


Relocation

by Churbooseanon



Series: Partings and Reunions [1]
Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Developing Relationship, M/M, Past Domestic Violence, Past Relationship(s), Polyamory, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-08
Updated: 2017-04-09
Packaged: 2018-02-03 20:22:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 145,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1756219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Churbooseanon/pseuds/Churbooseanon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Moving to a new place is difficult. Moving to a new place where you only know one person and you’re looking for a fresh start to chase the bitter taste of a bad relationship out of your mouth is even harder.</p><p>Sometimes, though, you get lucky. Pull the short straw or get the right roll of the dice or something and things start to shape up. Which is all a young man fleeing from Seattle could want. Right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part One

**Author's Note:**

  * For [yeison](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeison/gifts).



> Ultimately this will be a work focusing on a polyamorous relationship, but the point is very much to get the characters to that point. If that is a problem then this might not be the story for you. If it is, then please don't bite me over how long it's going to take.

The whole of his twenty-five years of life somehow managed to fit into the back of a single ten foot moving truck. Worse, the whole of his twenty-five years of life didn't even manage to _completely fill_ the back of a single ten foot moving truck. Five years of living on his own and this was all he had managed to amount to. Less than four-hundred cubic feet of possessions and a compact car, and the better part of the footage was composed boxes of books or clothes. 

This was actually what David's life had become. Less than four-hundred cubic feet of goods, an apartment he'd signed the lease on sight-unseen, and a job he wasn't even remotely looking forward to, but which was the best thing he had waiting for him. All of that and something to run away from had brought him here, far from everything he'd known, or near enough to it, to make it feel just briefly like a fresh start. 

The only question was how he was supposed to get that fresh start from the back of the truck to the third floor apartment he'd only spared himself a brief moment to locate before taking the keys from his new super and rushing back down to the parking lot and the truck to make sure they were still there. In the last ten minutes he'd managed to get his car lowered and parked in some random space, and that was everything. He'd been sitting here on the back of the truck, too afraid to move since. 

What had he been thinking, moving across the country to a strange city where he only knew one person? One person who wasn't even bothering to answer his calls. 

_Dick move, Connie, dick move._

Except he really couldn't blame her, could he? After everything she had done for him, he couldn't blame her for missing out on him this one time. Connie had been the one who had been willing to help him after what had happened back in Seattle, who had found him the job, found him the apartment, and paid for the truck. Hell, Connie had even cosigned the lease to help him out. He owed her everything. He couldn't hold a grudge on her for forgetting what day he was due in town or having a dead phone or anything else like that. Right?

No, he was done questioning it. With a sigh David levered himself off the back of the truck and turned around to look at what his life had amounted to. Better start moving now, because there was nothing to be gained from staying still. He pulled a pair of boxes from the back, rested them on the ground while he closed and locked the roll-down door, and stuffed his keys in his pocket before lifting the boxes and starting for the front door. 

There was no point to going backward, so he might has well go forward. 

“Woah, there... Let me get that door for you!”

David stumbled to a stop at the warm sound of another man's voice, and listened closely for the sound of the door groaning in protest as it was hauled open.

“Now where did that wedge end up?” the man's voice asked, clearly more of himself than of David. After a moment of grumbling and the sound of wood sliding over concrete the voice returned, sounding quite pleased with itself. “There, I've got it wedged open for you.”

“Thanks,” David mumbled into the cardboard that mostly covered his face and carefully peaked over the top of the box, searching for the stranger. He found himself having to look up a good bit to see the face of the man who had helped him, and David found he needed to readjust his grip on the boxes just to keep himself from fumbling them at the sight.

The man who was smiling down on him in a friendly manner was... handsome was probably too weak a word. The man had a relatively lean body, though six inches on David easily, but for all that the t-shirt he was wearing advertising some gym or other stretched tightly across his shoulders in a way that drew the eye. Yet none of that really seemed to compare to the guy's face. It was a face that belonged to some Greek god or hero, from the angular nose to the softly rounded and yet strong chin, right down to the prominent cheekbones that were still somehow soft and crystal blue eyes that seemed more intense for being set further back under his brow. Really, someone could take that face, put it on a statue with a placard reading _Apollo_ and people wouldn't have batted an eye. Okay, so maybe you'd have to change the hair a bit, David was pretty sure the Greek gods weren't typically pictured with a feathery blond hair that was cropped down to only an inch or so, or sported a widow's peak. Still, all of those wonderful featured mixed with the gentle smile the man wore made for an image just this side of breathtaking. 

Which was entirely something David really shouldn't have been thinking about a random guy who was just trying to be helpful. So he smiled thankfully at the man and tried to hide his roving eye behind his boxes. 

“Not a problem. You moving in?” the man asked, his voice still warm and welcoming. 

“Did the boxes give it away?”

“More like the lost expression,” the man chuckled. “Which apartment you in? You remember where it is?”

“Three-fifteen,” David offered, and the man's smile went from welcoming to beaming. 

“Interesting. I'm in three-thirteen. Makes me one of your immediate neighbors. The name is Alexander, but call me Alex. If you see an angry woman who looks a lot like me popping in and out of my place, that would be my sister Alexandra. Before you ask, we're twins and if you call her anything other than Alexa she'll punch you.” The man, Alex, chuckled to himself and shook his head as if at some personal joke, then tilted his head and smiled widely at David once again. “Anyway I'm rambling a bit off topic. I was going to offer to help you carry those boxes up.”

“David, and you really don't have to,” David insisted more to be polite and give the man an out than because he didn't want help. He needed it, pretty desperately with Connie being AWOL, but he really didn't want to start his residence here by begging his neighbor for help. 

“It's not a problem, at all,” Alex insisted, and David held himself very still while the other man carefully pulled the top box free. That being said he couldn't help but smirk at the look of surprise that flashed across Alex's face as he adjusted to the weight. “What have you got in here, rocks?”

“Books. And you got the light box,” David said, and he actually laughed at the mixture of shock and respect Alex wore. 

“The light box? And you were carrying both? Alright, you win, I'm impressed. I suppose you're going to drive it further home by insisting on taking the stairs now, aren't you?” 

“There's an elevator?” 

* * * * * *

“You really don't have to do this,” David repeated, probably for the tenth time, as Alex stacked the latest box, books from the weight of it, on top of another box David pointed to. 

“Hey, the only thing I was looking to do this afternoon was head to the gym,” Alex admitted as he took a moment to lean against the wall and catch his breath. Okay, so maybe it was a bit more than that he was after. 

Maybe he was stealing another chance to look David over. No, he was definitely doing that, because how could someone not? Especially considering the fact that David was at least three types of cute. Wait, were there even three types of cute? Well that didn't matter. What mattered was that there was something about the way his aquiline nose was off set by the round shape of his face and the soft shape of his cheeks. Or maybe it was the light dusting of freckles only faintly visible against his richly tanned skin, starting somewhere around his nose, dancing across his cheeks and down the sides of his neck until...

“I guess this could count as a workout,” David chuckled in a way that sounded just a little forced as he stood up straight—a shame because when he had been bending over that box Alex had gotten a damn good look at a shapely rear—and turned to smile at Alex. His hand came up and ran briefly through his short, obviously dyed black hair in a nervous gesture that made Alex yearn for his camera. The way the light from the kitchen window was falling across his face, highlighting the smattering of freckles, catching the obvious blond roots of his hair, and lighting up the rich green of his eyes was perfect, and missing a chance at a shot like that was practically killing him.

Except, as Alexa liked to point out when she caught him staring after someone he thought would be a perfect model, he couldn't just come out and ask David to pose for him. Strangers weren't always so comfortable with that idea. 

“A type of one,” Alex agreed, though he was pretty sure it was turning into one of restraint. “So, this last box cleared that couch of yours up. Wanna hit that next?”

“You really...”

“Don't have to do this,” Alex finished for him, and he couldn't help but smile at the flustered look that graced David's face for a moment. “Yeah, you've said that a few times. But it's pretty clear you're new to town because no one is here to help you out, and getting that thing moved on your own would be a pain, even with as strong as you seem to be.”

“Yeah, new...” David sighed and shook his head. “Guess that was obvious too. I've got a friend out here who was supposed to come and help with this, but her phone is dead or something... I mean, I haven't tried her in half an hour so I might get through but...”

“Don't worry about it,” Alex insisted. “At least this way you might be able to get her to buy you a meal to make up for letting you down. In the mean time, I'm happy to help.”

“There's got to be some way I can thank you for your help.”

Alex bit back on the urge to ask David to just stay where he was and let him get his camera real quick so he could snap a few photos, and forced a friendly smile to his lips. “I hear the usual price for a friend helping you move a couch is pizza. Throw in some beer when we're done and I'm yours for the day.”

David stared at him for a long moment, mouth agape—and geez wasn't that a sight—before just nodding and starting toward the door. “I mean, if that's all it costs, I guess you'd be a pretty cheap date.”

With David moving past him Alex couldn't help but spare the moment to bite his lip at what was clearly meant to be a joke. And here was the other point Alexa frequently stressed to him, and she did it harder than the line about not asking random people to pose for him. Don't hit on random strangers, she kept telling him, you never know how they're going to react to it. 

He only had to let his tongue probe lightly at the crown on one of his canines to remember what kind of reactions a little flirting could prompt from other men.

“So where did you come from originally?” Alex asked as he trailed after David, impressed yet again to find the other man opting to head down the stairs rather than take the elevator both ways. Then again, with the shape the guy was in, he really shouldn't have been surprised. “If you don't mind my asking.”

“Seattle,” the answer came, brief, sharp and pained, so Alex didn't push. Whatever had brought David here, it probably hadn't been pretty. Though the fact that David had maintained such a healthy, clearly natural tan in a place like Seattle did more than baffle the mind. 

“Well, I can assure you we don't get nearly so much rain out here,” Alex chuckled, forcing the amusement in hopes that David wouldn't notice just how much power he'd put behind the word 'Seattle'. “You'll also find September to be a little balmier out here in Ohio. Okay, so not entirely. The summers are pretty humid and unbearable, but I figure you've got a lot of experience with that.”

“Pretty much,” David agreed as they finally hit the ground floor and pushed into the lobby. 

And Alex froze and cursed at the sight before him. David stopped as well at the curse and looked back over his shoulder at Alex with a questioning look. All he had to do in response was gesture at a woman who was of a height with David and was bristling in annoyance at a mailbox. David looked forward briefly and Alex watched as all the tension that it had taken a solid fifteen minutes to work out of those shoulders with casual conversation snap right back into place.

Maybe he shouldn't have told David that Alexa might hit him for using her given name...

“Alexa,” Alex called to his twin, and she immediately whirled on her heels and shot him a glare that might have given a lesser man a heart attack. Then her eyes darted briefly toward David, gave him a quick once over, and then turned her attention back to Alex and shot him a look that asked him if he was really doing this again. He just shrugged. 

“Where the _fuck_ have you been?” Alexa demanded and Alex frowned at the way David flinched at her shout. That was... interesting and not heartening. 

“Alexa, this is David. He's the one moving into Jenkin's old apartment,” he explained as he stepped forward, hoping the movement would draw her attention fully on him. “I saw him while he was starting to bring his stuff in and thought I'd give him a...”

“Whatever. You were supposed to meet me half an hour ago.”

“Shit, today's the seventeenth, isn't it?” Alex realized, and the disdainful look that flashed across Alexa's face only served to confirm the date for him. “We were supposed to...”

David twisted slightly and looked up at Alex, a resigned expression on his face. 

“He doesn't have anyone to help him out,” Alex said at last, and resisted the urge to sigh when Alexa rolled her eyes. 

“Hey, whatever you name was,” she said, turning her attention fully upon David. “My brother here promised, about a _week_ ago, that he was going to help me with something this afternoon. I get dibs.”

“It's not a prob...”

“Besides, that truck out there yours? Because I saw someone chick hanging out by it when I was coming in. Seemed like she was waiting for someone. She yours?”

“Rebecca?” David gasped, and then the smaller man was bolting out into the fall sun and Alex was left with his twin, who was shaking her head.

“You've got a thing for hard luck cases, don't you?” she asked after a long moment. 

“It's not like that,” he started to explain, only to see that it wasn't going to be believed for one second. “Fine, so it is, but that's neither here nor there. Let's just get this over with, and if he's still working when we get back, you're helping.”

“Whatever,” Alexa breezed as she shut their mailbox and strode outside, Alex following her closely. 

He couldn't help but glance in the direction of David's moving truck and catch a glimpse of the other man enthusiastically embracing a smaller brunette woman. 

Well, at least that answered that question.

* * * * * *

“Dammit, Connie, where the hell were you?” David demanded when he released her. “I called you, like a hundred times.”

“Eighteen,” she corrected, laughing at him as she held up her phone. “See, I've got this whole list of them. Really, Dave, a woman would think you were desperate.”

“One, don't call me that. Two, a man would think you were supposed to be here a while ago,” he countered before hauling the back of the truck open again. “Your timing couldn't have been better, though. I just lost the help of a guy from the building. Previous engagement and all that. So you get to carry his side of the couch.”

“Oh come on, Dave, can't we take a bit of time to catch up?” Connie groaned as he climbed into the truck and navigated behind the beat up old couch that he had loved too much to abandon. 

“We can do that while we're moving stuff,” David insisted, wedging himself between a tower of yet more boxes and the arm of the couch. With a grunt he shoved it forward, pushing the beast toward the door. In another situation he might have felt bad to ask Connie to help him move the thing, but she'd been late, and she kept using that damn name. “And stop calling me Dave. Do you want me to just call you Becky all the time?”

“You didn't used to mind it,” Connie observed as she shifted herself into position to catch the couch should he push it too far. Not that he was worried. For all that Connie was small, he knew just how strong she was. And more than that, how determined she could be. Something as simple as a heavy object wasn't going to stop her from achieving her ends. “And don't you dare call me Becky. I hate that.”

“Yeah, and I hate Dave now,” he answered, pushing the couch just over the lip of the truck before moving around it and hopping out. “Switch sides.”

Connie didn't comment on the order, just jumped up into the truck, moved to the back of the couch, and waited for him to get a good grip before shoving the couch forward. “What changed? You were fine with it when I visited you last...”

“He called me Dave.”

The couch's advance stopped suddenly and the silence from Connie was pretty weighty. At last he watched her pop her head up over the side of the couch and frown at him, pretty hard. “Listen, what he did...”

“I'm definitely looking forward to talking about that as I am to carrying this couch,” David snapped, and Connie's head ducked back down just before the couch slid forward enough to really start tipping down into his arms. “Come on out. I can pull it the rest of the way.”

“Roger,” Connie agreed before throwing herself over the edge of the couch and lying down on it, grin on her face. 

“Not helping,” David grunted as the additional weight made his arms strain. “Seriously not helping.”

“Oh come on, David, we both know you can handle little old me,” Connie laughed, sitting up on the couch and the way her weight shifted on it made him grit his teeth. Not because he couldn't handle it, but because there was a nail he hadn't been aware of sticking out of the damn wood and shit that hurt. 

“Yeah, and now I'm bleeding,” he hissed through his teeth, “and the box of stuff from the bathroom is already up in the apartment. So if you don't mind, would you get your ass off my couch and help me get this thing upstairs so I can, I don't know, not bleed all over my pants.”

The speed with which Connie threw herself off the couch and to the asphalt beside him was almost impressive, and David found himself relieved of some of the weight of the couch as her arms moved under the thing. It was enough for David to pull his arms back a bit and reveal that, yep, as he'd feared there was a minor cut in his arm that blood was welling up from. Connie swore under her breath and then the weight was fully on David again as Connie was tearing into the purse sitting on the bumper of the truck. 

“Oh god, we're dipping into Connie's amazing bag of mysteries? This should be good,” David groaned, earning him a brief dirty look from his old friend before she yanked a paper package and a roll of something from her purse before tucking the purse into the truck and returning to his side. 

“Okay, I need you to push the couch back just a bit, there ya go. Present arm,” Connie ordered, and with the couch pushed far enough back to not teeter any more, David just obeyed. It was pointless to try and argue with her on this, so he watched as Connie forced the tape into his hand and then tore the paper package holding a piece of sterile gauze open. Before he knew it, David had a nice bandage taped to his arm and Connie was smiling at him triumphantly and twirling the roll of medical tape around her finger. 

“That almost makes up for you being late,” David teased and then ducked as Connie swatted at his head, though he ducked the half-hearted swipe easily. “Why do you even have that kind of stuff in your purse?”

“I learned pretty quickly at the cafe that employees are always going to get themselves hurt, and sometimes it's going to be pretty far away from the first aid kit. So I keep supplies all around,” she admitted with a sigh. “I swear to god, these college kids I get working the counter for me are pretty prone to accidents. It's a miracle they survived middle school, you know?”

“Wait, so I'm putting myself at risk for you?” David asked with a sigh as he reached for the couch and pulled it out toward him again. “You didn't say anything about clumsy college kids who were going to spill hot drinks on me or something.”

“Yeah, given how shitty your coffee is, you're handling tables,” Connie teased, but there was something a bit serious in her eyes that caused David to groan. 

“Oh come on, Connie, surely you don't hate me that much. You know how much I hate waiting tables.”

Connie shrugged as David pulled the couch out far enough for her to grab. Of course, instead of that she hauled herself up onto the back of the truck and pulled the door most of the way down. Then, closed to closed, she tucked her other arm under the couch and helped him pull it free, carefully balancing it on her arm and hip while she closed the door completely and then turned her attention to the couch. 

“Simple fact of the matter is that I need it, David. Michael has broken too many of my cups handling tables and forgets half the orders before he makes it back to the counter. Lavernius hits on _every_ last woman who he runs into. Leo's got this grouchy attitude that isn't so bad if you only have to interact with him for a minute or two max and thus makes him impossibly poorly suited to actually _interacting_ with customers, and don't even get me started on the other half of my crew.”

“You could fire them,” David suggested as he backed up toward the building, carefully watching over his shoulder as they approached the building. 

“Yeah, fire them. Why didn't _I_ think of that? Oh, wait, maybe it's because for all that they're pretty hopeless in some ways, they're pretty perfect in others. Leo may be an ass but he's got a mind like a computer and helps with the books. Michael makes the _best_ cupcakes, which have gotten to be one of our most popular items. Lavernius has an insane skill with coffee based drinks and you wouldn't believe the skill he's got with making art out of adding milk to a latte. Franklin has the eye of a cake decorator which keeps our cookies pretty popular around holidays, Richard manages the cafe's website _in his free time,_ and Dexter...”

David raised an eyebrow as they shuffled toward the elevator, waiting for Connie to elaborate, and couldn't hold back a bark of laughter as confusion danced across her face. 

“You can't come up with anything,” he accused as he used his elbow to summon the elevator. 

“Uh... Well... Um, most of his paycheck doesn't make it past the door?”

“Well now that is a glowing recommendation if I've ever heard one!”

“David, you need a job, you owe me a _lot_ for hooking you up with this apartment, and I need someone competent to cover tables during the busy parts of the day. So, knowing you need work and just how good you are at being a waiter, did you _really_ think I was going to put you somewhere else?”

“Connie...” he said, a warning tone in his voice as he let himself be backed up into the newly arrived elevator. It didn't fit, of course, and he carefully started to tilt the couch at the right angle to make everything work out.

“Just look at it this way, if someone starts hitting on you, you're likely to get a bigger tip if you play along. And you could use the money.”

David groaned again as he hit the button for the third floor. Maybe he _should_ have moved back in with his parents instead of putting himself in the position of relying on Connie's mercy. Funny, somehow he'd forgotten she didn't have any.

* * * * * *

He had been standing here for almost five minutes. Or at least something close to it. Near enough that he was pretty sure that if Alexa stuck her head out of their door and saw him, he would never live it down. Still, he stood there, fist poised to knock on the door, and Alex couldn't move. What if he wasn't there? What if he was annoyed that Alex had ducked out before helping on the heavier things like he'd promised? Worse, what if his girlfriend was still there and...?

Nope, that was not something he was going to think about. He was just here to be a good neighbor and welcome David to the building. Of course he'd already done that earlier in the day, but that wasn't the point. This was the official welcome, one he intended to make alone because inflicting Alexa on the poor guy before he could properly be prepared for that moment would be a cruelty. Or so he told himself.

Alex took a deep breath, rolled his shoulders back, and knocked. Because otherwise he was just a guy standing at a stranger's door holding a six pack for nothing. 

“Huh? Oh, fuck. Um... Coming!” a voice, David's, called from the other side of the door and Alex cursed himself. The timing really was shit, wasn't it? Fuck, he shouldn't have...

The door swung open just as Alex was about to turn on his heels, and he was granted a sight of David, face flushed and lightly panting, and with a glaringly white bandage standing out starkly against the skin of his right arm. There was something like confusion on David's face for a moment, a wrinkling of his brow as he looked Alex up and down and then his eyes caught on the beers. Amusement flooded into those too green eyes as they darted back to Alex's face and he was given a wide and genuine smile. 

“I thought I supposed to buy the beers,” David quipped, shifting so he wasn't standing in the door. It was a quiet invitation, and Alex smiled his relief and thanks as he stepped past David and into the living room that was far more cluttered than it had been the last time he had been here. 

“Yeah, well seeing as I sort of managed to abandon you before moving the thing that warrants the beer, and I needed a 'welcome to the building' gift as well, I figured I could get the beer,” Alex laughed as David shut the door behind him. “But it looks like you got the couch up here perfectly fine.”

“Not exactly,” David admitted, slipping past Alex and picking his way through the maze of boxes to make his way for the beat up and clearly beloved old couch and the low coffee table in front of it. Or so Alex had thought. Instead of flopping down on the couch David made his way past it and started looking at boxes. 

“The arm?” 

“Yep. Apparently there was a nail sticking out under it,” David grumbled before stopping at a box, moving the one on top of it, and pulling a box cutter out of his pocket. After a moment the box was open and David was pulling a set of tall plastic cups out. The triumphant smile he gave Alex as he turned and showed them off was more than simply endearing. “But Rebecca patched it up for me before we moved it up here.”

“Classy,” he observed, looking at the cups. “Does your girlfriend always keep medical supplies on her?” Alex asked, finally following David and setting the beers down on the table beside the cups. 

He watched as David froze, his arms outstretched toward the beer. The younger man—he assumed David was younger than him, he just had that look about him—turned to stare at Alex, revulsion plain on his face. “Me... And her? Oh fuck no. That would be like... I don't know, dating my sister.”

Alex just raised a questioning eyebrow as David finally pried a can loose from the plastic rings and popped it open to pour in one of the cups. “Really? You seemed rather friendly with her when you were in the parking lot.”

“I'm _positive,_ ” David insisted, finishing filling his cup and then moving for another beer. Alex watched silently as David busied himself, already expecting further explanation. And, sure enough, as David passed him the newly filled second cup and leaned back on the couch, it came. “Her family moved next door to mine when I was in first grade. We were pretty fast friends, and stayed that way until she moved out here a few years ago.”

“Someone else might think you were moving across the country to chase a lost love,” Alex mused as he took a sip of his beer. It was lukewarm, but really it was a shit brand anyway so what did it matter? 

“No,” David sighed, voice firm and maybe hinting at something else that Alex couldn't pick up on, “nothing like that. Just a new start in a new place. We need those every now and then.”

Pain. That was what it was. It took a lot for Alex not to do something about it. Not to reach out and lay a hand on David's shoulder, or pull him into a comforting hug or anything else. They were still, for lack of a better term, strangers. Strangers sharing a beer on a beaten up old couch in the middle of what looked like a moving van explosion, but strangers none the less. 

“Do I still owe you a pizza?” David asked after a long moment. 

“No, but you _could_ buy yourself an extra set of hands to help you unpack and set up a bit with one. You know... If you're in the market for help. Looks like your Rebecca left the joys of unpacking to you...” Alex offered, and hoped that David would say yes, would beg for help. This place was a mess and he didn't want to leave. 

Alexa would have laughed at him, but Alex was pretty sure he didn't care. 

The warm smile David offered him made his heart skip a beat, and somewhere in the back of his head Alex realized it was hopeless. It was too late to back out, change his mind, and pretend none of this had happened. Then again, he should have expected it. When he fell for a guy, it tended to be fast and hard. 

All he could do was wait for the feeling to pass. However long that took.

“The only problem is, I don't know any pizza places in town. I'm sort of new here,” David observed, smile in place. 

Alex brought a hand up to his chin and adopted an exaggerated thinking pose, and had to struggle not to smile widely at the laughter it provoked in David. “Well... I suppose as your first friend or acquaintance or whatever in town, it's my responsibility to teach you the vast, unknowable secrets of the restaurants of your new home.”

“If they're unknowable, how are you going to teach me these secrets?” David asked, no, more like gasped out around his laughter. 

“Shut up, you,” Alex chuckled as he abandoned the pose and reached into his pocket for his phone. “I'll order, you pay. Anything you won't eat?”

“Anchovies, mushrooms, black olives...” David answered immediately, laughter fading away in the face of the serious task of ordering pizza. “And there better be pepperoni.”

“Aye, aye, captain,” Alex smiled as he flipped through his phonebook for the proper number. “Assuming we don't need drinks and we just get a medium, I'd say a twenty would more than cover everything, including the tip. So why don't you fetch that and figure out just where you want to put my hands to work while I order. Okay?”

David nodded and Alex pushed himself off the couch when he was shooed by a curt gesture by the younger man. 

His back was turned when he made the call, and so he missed the way David bit his lip and breathed a little sigh and stared up at the ceiling and resisted so hard the urge to say something stupid about just what Alex could do with his hands.


	2. Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god the back ground characters kill me in this chapter. They are so much fun to write.

“I'm gonna do it.”

“I do not believe it would be the best idea for you to...”

“I'm gonna do it.”

“Shaun, please, for once I would like to have my coffee without...”

“I'm doing it.”

“For the love of...”

“Good morning, Rebecca!” Shaun sang out as he pushed through the door of the cafe, and he immediately ducked as the usual dishtowel wrapped around a chunk of something heavy went sailing through the air and over his head. And, as usual, there was a pointed sigh as Daniel snatched the cloth out of the air before it could sail past them through the open door and land on the ground.

“One of these days,” the feisty brunette store owner snarled menacingly from behind the display.

Shaun just smiled and winked as the woman who vastly preferred to be referred to as Connie sent him the same evil look she shot him every morning, and Connie rolled her eyes with exaggerated care while Daniel strode over to the counter to pass the dishtowel back to her. There was just something about how easily he could get a rise out of the small woman that made the risk of her wrath something he had to test. Of course he agreed with Daniel's belief that one of these days Connie was going to corner him in a dark alley and he would be bed ridden for a month, but until that point, he was going to enjoy poking at her every chance he got. But he was more comfortable poking her from the comfort of his usual booth, where he at least had the meager shield of being a paying customer to protect him from her. After all, Connie had a hard and fast rule that she wouldn't berate customers, no matter how annoying.

“Must you always provoke her?” Daniel asked with a sigh as he joined Shaun at their usual booth, sliding into his seat, and not even bothering to pick up one of the menus resting by the wall. 

“Come on, D, it wouldn't be our morning tradition if we didn't start it by poking at Connie,” Shaun chuckled, shaking his head as he stretched out on his bench, throwing his arms across the back to take up as much room as possible. That was just as much habit as harassing Connie and getting reprimanded by Daniel and having Tucker stride up to their table for their normal order just about now and say...

“I've got to agree with your friend. You really shouldn't poke Connie like that.”

Wait. No. That was all wrong. Tucker came over just about now and said 'you two again?' and sighed as he pulled out the order pad that everyone knew he wasn't going to use and...

Shaun looked up at the man standing patiently at the end of the booth in confusion, and found himself more than just pleasantly surprised at what he found there. This new employee—because that was clearly what this was—looked older than the usual sort, and a bit more competent. Or, at least, the way he carried himself was markedly more confident, patient, and customer friendly than the people Shaun had been forced to deal with before. He was, of course, in one of the polo shirts that Connie had all her employees wear, a steel gray one with the name 'David' embroidered over the breast in yellow, and the apron that was the same shade of brown as the sign outside and silk screened with the name 'Connie's Cafe.' But the way he filled out the polo was far more impressive than any of the others who worked here—except Caboose, whose shirts were always clearly too tight because they were fitted wrong and Caboose insisted when Shaun asked that they felt like hugs—and Shaun was certain he could follow the line of this David's honest to god well-defined pecs through the thick fabric. The gray and brown did wonders to bring out the green of his eyes and suited both the bottle black of his hair and the blond of his roots and _damn_ this had to be the cutest guy he'd seen in this cafe in a while. 

There was a sharp pain in his ankle, clearly originating in Daniel kicking him under the table for staring—more like ogling—at their waiter, and Shaun turned on his brightest smile for the new employee.

“I've never seen you around here, David,” Shaun observed. “I'm guessing you're the new employee Connie has been saying she wanted to bring in. The name's Shaun, and this here is Daniel, but you can call him D.”

“No,” Daniel grumbled, “he cannot. In fact, you cannot. I keep telling you...”

“You'll also find there is nothing important that comes from D's mouth. Ever. Except his order, which will never change. Every single day it's black coffee, a banana nut muffin, and a second cup of coffee to go,” Shaun continued, ignoring the mumbled protests of Daniel across the way. “As for me, I'll have a latte, with cinnamon sprinkled on top and... You know what, just tell Tucker to make a Shaun special and he'll know what to do. Hell, he's probably already making it. And, to go with that I'll take a cinnamon roll and your number.”

“Oh god, here we go again,” Daniel groaned, burying his face in his hands across the table, but really, Shaun had his attention riveted to David and the beautiful shade of red his cheeks were turning. Even better, the red didn't come with any shaking or tightening of his fists. Those were immediate signs of a very securely heterosexual man offended by the suggestion of Shaun being attracted to them. The red David was turning to enhance and pick out every last freckle from his nose and to all the way down his lovely neck was from embarrassment, which was a damn good step on the way to actually getting a number.

“Shaun, if you give David grief, I will have to poison your latte,” Connie shouted from the counter. 

“Woah, now that's something even _I've_ never heard from her before,” Church observed from his place behind the register, sounding quite impressed. Honestly, so was Shaun. Connie's threats were never that... forceful. 

David, though, didn't comment one way or another. Apparently over his embarrassment the man turned on his heel, jotting Shaun's order down as he went, and strode off toward the safety of the counter. 

“Sometimes, I don't understand why I'm your friend,” Daniel groaned from between his hands. 

“Because your life wouldn't be half so interesting without me, D,” Shaun chuckled before twisting in his seat to get a better view of the new employee. And wasn't he in luck, what with the way the man was leaning against a display case to talk to Connie, and how well it showed off the guy's really fine ass.

“Idiot,” Daniel growled and kicked him under the table, jerking Shaun's attention back to his friend. “You didn't pay attention to a word Simmons said last night, did you?”

“What's Simmons got to do with anything?” Shaun winced as he let bent slightly to rub at his ankle. Damn, Daniel had put more force into that than kick than he usually did. “All he was talking about last night was about how Connie's old friend... from Seattle... was...”

Ah. Well, that explained a few things, now didn't it?

* * * * * *

“I... Should have warned you about Shaun,” Connie sighed, her voice heavy with apology as David came to a stop on the customer side of the pastry display case and watched her start pulling pieces for the order from her side. 

“You think?” David demanded, still trying to fight down the heat he could feel in his face. “That was...” 

“Exactly how Shaun has treated pretty much every guy I've hired, and me, and any woman that will so much as glance his way,” Connie admitted, taking the separate plates with the muffin and cinnamon roll and placing them on a tray which she then passed over to Tucker, who had seemed to be waiting for it. “It's just the way he is. All bark and no bite. Don't worry about it. Just don't play along and he'll leave you alone quickly enough.”

“Or, yanno, don't listen to her and continue to entertain us all,” Tucker suggested as he carefully handled a large mug as he poured milk into it with very deliberate motions. “I haven't seen something _quite_ the shade of pink you turned since the last time I pulled evening shift and had to work with Donut.”

David stood there for a moment, trying to figure out just what, or who, Donut was, and then spared Tucker one of his hardest glares. The younger man didn't even look up from his work, but the smirk he wore told David that the man knew it was coming anyway. 

“It's okay, Tucker is just jealous that you are being such very good friends with Mister Shaun,” a voice drifted out from the kitchen, belonging to the towering blond who probably _still_ had that bit of frosting on the tip of his nose—a blob that Church had stared at through the whole of introductions, amusing David by licking his lips unconsciously at the sight. That would be Caboose, a sweet enough kid but not nearly so bright as a college student should have been. 

“Caboose, shut up,” Tucker snapped, looking up from the drink as he shouted. “Oh shit,” he mumbled then, turning his attention back to his work for half a moment before he ceased pouring milk altogether and he carefully set the drink down on the tray. David leaned in to look at the 'art' that Connie said Tucker made of lattes, and wasn't amused to find a rather well done hand flipping the bird in the middle of the drink. Real mature.

“Tucker and Shaun were never 'friends' Caboose,” Church sighed and Shaun watched as the grouchy man jerked away from Tucker when he was kicked in the shin. “Geez, Tucker. Always willing to talk about your conquests of the ladies, but someone brings up the time you hooked up with Shaun and... OW!”

“You're all insane,” David sighed as a mug of coffee moved to join the latte and pastries thanks to Connie. “You're all completely and utterly insane.”

“Yeah,” Tucker agreed quite readily, a wide smirk on his face as he leaned over and sprinkled some cinnamon on his latte creation, “but if you want my advice...”

“And I don't.”

“You should give him your number. There are worst ways to start out in a new town than some time with someone that looks and fucks like Shaun.”

“Shut up, Tucker,” David growled under his breath as he carefully hefted the tray and strode away from the relative safety that was Connie's nearby presence and strode back over to the booth. 

“Oh come on, you get to say it and I don't?” Church protested behind him before there was another pained exclamation that clearly meant Tucker had kicked him again.

Well, if nothing else, Tucker was right about one thing, Shaun was easy on the eyes. No, more than easy, gorgeous. If Alex had been handsome in a classic sort of sense, Shaun was gorgeous in a more modern way. His nose was broad but relatively small, his face somewhat square but rounded enough to keep him from looking like he had edges, and his gray eyes were bright and flashed with amusement and complimented the smirk still on his lips. His brown hair was at least a few inches long and only seemed to keep itself swept forward into a faint point because of what was clearly copious amounts of gel or some other kind of product.

He contrasted very powerfully with the man who sat across the table from him. Daniel looked as well composed as Shaun looked artfully disheveled. His long black hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail at the base of his neck, his soft green eyes flashed with intelligence, and his face looked more sculpted than naturally formed. It was an angular face, coming to a point at his chin, and David couldn't help but think of a stereotypical medieval scholar. His posture said he was a very serious man, and his clothes only furthered that idea with his green tailored shirt, darker green vest, lime green tie and green slacks. Okay, so maybe there was something weird about a guy that had dressed himself in a range of greens, but David still thought more effort had gone into Daniel's outfit than Shaun's, as the other man was in a simple t-shirt and jeans. 

“A hot coffee, latte special order, banana nut muffin, and cinnamon roll,” David listed off as he took the items off his tray and arranged them before the pair. Daniel nodded in approval as he reached for the sugar and creamer rack on the table, whereas Shaun just smiled up at him with that grin that had nearly melted his legs earlier.

What could he say? David had always been a sucker for a good smile. Still, he steeled himself and took a deep breath before he spoke, calming his voice and schooling his expression before asking, “Is that all for now?”

Shaun raised a shapely eyebrow and his smile shifted slightly from the leg melting variety to a more amused sort. He made a show of searching around their order, even checking the napkins that came with pastries, and then turned his attention back to David, a sad smile on his face. 

“You forgot something,” Shaun said, and David mentally ran over the order. No, he'd gotten it all. The only thing Shaun had mentioned that he hadn't delivered was...

“Your number?”

That.

“It is typically best to ignore him,” Daniel observed as he emptied three packets of sugar into his coffee. “I have yet to effectively achieve such a heightened state of being myself, but I'm certain it will be worthwhile to try.”

“Thanks, D. You're really a great friend. Seriously,” Shaun grumbled as he finally looked down at his latte and then snorted at it. “Any time you're willing, Tucker,” he shouted back in the direction of the counter, and there was quickly another 'ow' from Church.

“You're incorrigible,” Daniel sighed and with that David decided he was no longer needed. Tray tucked under his arm he turned to go, and was surprised to find he didn't even make it two steps before there was a hand gripping his wrist. 

He might have shaken it off, or pulled Shaun out of the booth and twisted the arm behind his back, or maybe just slammed the tray down on it, were it not for how light the grip was. Clearly the other man was giving him the chance to break free, to walk away without another word, and it was that that stopped David more than anything else. When he turned to look back Shaun was leaning out of the booth rather precariously, stretched out between where he had been sitting and where David was standing, and maybe that would have been funny or pathetic in another set of circumstances. 

As it was there was a seriousness on the man's face, in his eyes, in the tightness of his pursed lips, that made David's heart skip half a beat. He looked so much better like that.

“I didn't mean to offend you or anything,” Shaun insisted, voice pitched lower and utterly serious. “I just...”

There was a chiming of a bell indicating someone had arrived, and when David looked in that direction he saw a group of five college aged women making for a booth. He looked back toward Shaun one last time before jerking his hand free and striding away. 

* * * * * *

“I know that look,” Daniel sighed as Shaun righted himself on the bench and stared down at the latte sitting on the table in front of him. 

“What look?” Shaun asked more out of habit than any actual interest as he poked at his cinnamon roll. Strange, he wasn't as hungry now as he had been when they'd first arrived. When had that happened?

“The one you're giving your cinnamon roll. It's your 'I was just joking when I was hitting on them, but now that I've been rejected they're far more interesting' look.”

Shaun chuckled and shook his head as he looked at his best friend and business partner across the table. “I don't have a look like that. You're just making shit up, D.”

“On the contrary,” Daniel said, pausing long enough to sip his coffee, “I recognize that look from how frequently you aimed it at Charlotte.”

“I thought you promised never to bring that up again,” Shaun groaned, pushing his cinnamon roll aside so he could bury his face in the crock of his arm on the table. He closed his eyes as he did, and tried to listen for David's voice, but all he could hear was the quiet gossip of the blue team—his and D's term for this shift of workers, as opposed to the red team typically on evening shift—and the quiet giggling of the women who had entered and who were clearly smitten with David's good looks. 

“No, you promised never to bring it up again,” Daniel observed with a pitying sigh. “I never agreed to your suggestion. That being said, I have respected your desire previously, and bring it up now because you are clearly... intrigued by this friend of Connie's. I find that when you are intrigued by someone in such a manner, you take twice as long to complete even simple tasks, which is harmful for our business.” 

Shaun lifted his head and stared at his friend incredulously. “Wow, D. If I'm hearing you right, you actually only care about my interest in this guy because it affects _productivity_? That is cold, man, just plain cold.”

“Merely an observation,” Daniel returned immediately, taking another sip of his coffee. 

“Sometimes I wonder why I deal with you,” Shaun sighed as he finally picked up his mug of latte. Leave it to Tucker to find new ways to insult him using it every day. Yesterday the guy had managed to make a believable trash can. Seriously, he was wasted in his physical therapy major at the college. He should have been an artist.

Okay, maybe not completely wasted on his line of stufy, because his hands were very talented, but that was beside the point. 

Daniel's cup clinked hard against the table as he set it down, and Shaun returned his attention to the other man. This was going to be interesting. D was just so prone to being quiet and withdrawn that he had this compulsion to make some louder noise before saying something very serious or proving a point. What that was going to be was beyond Shaun at the moment, but he was looking forward to it anyway. 

“It has been my experience in life that some people do not prefer to be treated as... forwardly as is your usual habit. No, that isn't the right way to word it. Ah, it would be better to say they prefer to set their own pace. This could be because of a difference of personality, experiences in their life making them more restrained, or a recent less than amicable separation with a significant other. Or something else entirely, of course. In those cases it might be better to... offer them a choice to approach you when they are more comfortable with the idea.”

It wasn't often that something Daniel said regarding interpersonal relationships made sense. Those were moments that were so rare that Shaun had developed the habit of throwing little parties over them. In fact, the way D was holding his mug before him, staring down at it as if it owed him money, suggested that he was bracing himself for whatever Shaun was going to do to tease him. 

“Give me a pen.”

“What?” D asked, looking up sharply with confusion plain on his face. 

“Oh come on, I know you've got pens on you. At least three at any given moment. So would you just hand one over already?” Shaun asked, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice. 

“Why would you...”

“You're the one who suggested it, so just give me a damn pen.”

Daniel sighed and reached a hand into the coat he had laid out on the bench beside him when they'd sat down and extracted a single—thankfully black, because there was such a thing as too much green and Shaun practically lived on the cusp of that—pen which he calmly offered Shaun. Shaun, for what it was worth, actually managed not to pluck the thing from Daniel's hand, merely calmly took it and pulled the napkin out from under his plate. 

“That wasn't... quite what I meant,” Daniel observed while Shaun quickly scratched his number on the napkin and added his name for good measure, just in case David somehow thought Daniel was trying to get his attention. 

“Well, it's not my only approach, but it's a good first step,” Shaun sighed, covering the napkin with his plate to hide the scribbled note for now. Showing his hand too early might just make the whole thing awkward and find David discarding the idea out of hand. No, like D said, this had to be handled slowly and carefully.

“First step?”

Shaun chuckled and shook his head, “Oh come on, D, we're in here every morning, and usually in the evenings as well. If Connie went so far as actually having a shirt made for the guy, he's clearly meant to stick around. And it's already clear he's about twenty times more competent than anyone other than possibly Donut, who's just... awkward.”

Daniel just raised a slender eyebrow at that comment and hid the smile he must have had behind his mug.

“I'm nothing like him,” Shaun sighed as he always had to when the topic of Donut came up. “I've got far better timing and way more subtlety...”

“You literally asked the new employee for his phone number, and implied far more than that, while ordering your breakfast,” Daniel pointed out with all his usual composure for all that his eyes were sparkling with amusement. 

“...when it comes to double entendres,” Shaun finished, glaring at Daniel. “Sometimes, D, I hate you.”

“I am well aware of this, Shaun. You tell me at least once a week. That being said, you should eat. We should get moving soon. You've plenty of work to do and I need to go over your recent purchase orders and balance the books once more.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah...”

* * * * * *

Someone must have delivered the second coffee to Shaun and Daniel's table, because by the time David had dealt with the sudden rush of morning customers, the booth the pair had been sitting in had been vacated. His final order delivered and refills of plain black coffee for the table of women who had first drawn him away from the strange pair were offered and refused David moved for the abandoned booth to clean up. Connie had made it pretty clear that when the counter was as backed up with take out orders as it was at that moment, it was his job to deal with tables as best he could. Apparently Caboose couldn't be trusted to not break things at this point. With a sigh he stopped by the table and was thankful that the two at least had been neat eaters, leaving no crumbs behind. He'd only have to do a cursory wipe down once he got the dishes out of the way. 

Then there was the tip, a five dollar bill and some change on a pretty simple order and David rolled his eyes. Clearly it was meant less as a reflection on his service than as a result of Shaun's earlier behavior. He could only hope that the size was a result of Daniel apologizing for his friend's behavior and not Shaun trying to...

When he reached for the tip to sweep it into the pocket of his apron to keep it safe until he could move it to the tip jar on the counter he saw the napkin. He'd thought it was only there because, well, because they hadn't used it. But the name and digits looking up at him told another story. 

“David!” Connie called his name from the counter, and there really wasn't any time to think. The tip and napkin were swept into his pocket and the dishes hastily stacked on his tray before he was moving again, carefully making his way through the brief line that lead up to the counter and also trailed off to the side as people waited for their orders to be completed. The dishes went into a bin by the kitchen and the tray leaned against the wall as David strode to Connie's side.

“Yeah, boss?” he asked, earning himself a little smirk from the smaller woman. If there was one thing he knew Connie liked, it was being reminded that she was in charge. She'd always had a thing for power, and he had grown used to feeding it since they were kids. 

“No time to teach you drinks right now, but we're pretty busy and I could use another set of hands. Think you could stand here and manage food orders while I help Lavernius with the drinks? Everything's labeled on this side because sometimes Michael mixes up what does where...”

“Don't worry,” he chuckled, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “I know what I'm doing, Connie.”

The smile she gave him was a mixture of thankful and exasperated. Then she was gone further down the counter and joining the clank of cups and murmur of action that was drink making. David, well, he just let himself get caught up in the simpler motions of assisting the line, moving items into paper bags as Church repeated orders back to customers before ringing them up. It was a simple task, simple enough that David didn't need to give himself over to thinking about it. He had already memorized where everything was in the case—his memory had always been better than normal—and to be honest, he didn't want to think. Didn't want to think about Alex with his eyes as blue as crystals and a smile that made him warm all over, or Shaun's laughing gray eyes and grin that made his legs melt. Or Ethan who...

That line of thought was shut down almost before it started. Unfortunately that wasn't enough, and there was a sick feeling in his stomach as David continued to fill orders without thinking about anything. 

Then his hands were empty, no orders called out. Just Connie at his side smiling faintly at him as she tapped his shoulder and turned his attention fully to her. 

“Just a good as I remembered,” she chuckled, clearly more for her benefit than his. “You know, I think I might ultimately get an assistant manager out of this, which would be all sorts of wonderful. What would you think about that?”

David just shrugged. “It's my first day, Connie. Let's not get ahead of ourselves.”

“Oh no, I'll get to wherever I want. Anyway, we typically slow down about now, Michael has the morning batch of cupcakes already in and out of the oven and he's frosting, so this seems as good a time for a break and a little talk as any. What do you say?” 

“Connie...” David sighed, but the hard look in her eyes brooked no argument, so David just nodded. “But after I bus the...”

“Leonard, clear the tables. Lavernius, dishes,” Connie snapped. “When you're done you can take your breaks. If anything comes up David and I will take care of it.”

The pair moved without a word to her, a sure sign that they'd gotten as used to obeying Connie as he had over the years. Connie just turned to the pastry case and loaded a plate up with a piece of coffee cake and a blueberry scone—leave it to her to remember how much he had loved those things when she'd visited Seattle the last time—and thrust the plate into his hands. “Go find us a place with a view of the door. I'll get drinks.”

With a sigh David moved to a table a bit out of the way of the door but with a relatively unobstructed view through the window to give them a bit more warning of potential customers. The second the plate was on the table he was seated and taking a bite out of the scone. Damn, they were just as good as he remembered. Connie really had a gift for baking. 

“We need to talk,” Connie's voice, pitched low and in her very serious tone froze David before he could take another bite. She sat across from him and placed a steaming mug before him and he could smell the cinnamon and chocolate in the drink. Damn she remembered him better than he had thought. When was the last time he'd had a cup of her special cinnamon mocha? 

Fuck talking. David lifted the cup up and reveled in the scent before taking a delicate sip, letting the tastes wash across his mouth while the liquid burned the tip of his tongue. Not that he cared in the slightest. 

“You should... stay away from Shaun.”

Okay, so maybe talking had to happen first, because that line came so far from out of left field that David had to carefully put his drink back down on the table to keep from spilling it all over himself. 

“You're... kidding, right?” he asked, shaken, as Connie sighed and shook her head. “I honestly think I'm going to need a little more than that to figure out just why you would even think I'd do anything _other_ than stay away from him.”

Connie moved to rest her chin on an uplifted arm and gave him the look—the one where she raised one eyebrow while lowering the other and pinching her lips together in that way that screamed incredulity. “I'm not an idiot, David. We've known each other for how long? No, don't answer that. I know just as well as you do, and we both know it was a rhetorical question. What I mean to say is that I saw the look on your face when you glanced at the booth those two use and found them gone. I know that look, David, and just what kind of trouble it could get you into.”

“I'm really thankful that you're concerned about me and all that,” David sighed, leaning forward to wrap his hands around the welcoming warmth of his drink, “but I don't know what you're talking about.”

“You used to look at Ethan like that.”

He went rigid. Couldn't help it, it was just reflex at this point. He even managed to shake it off quickly, not that it took any of the recognition from Connie's eyes. Or the pity.

“I know there's a lot more to what happened with Ethan back in Seattle than you were willing to tell me,” Connie said after a long moment and a sip of her tea, “but I also know it's pointless to try and get what it was out of you. But, between you and me, David, you aren't quite the same person you were when I saw you last. There's something different... Something a bit frayed about your edges if that makes any sense.”

It did. That was why his hands had retreated from his drink, preferring instead to be tight fists in his lap, his nails starting to press painfully hard into the skin of his palms. 

“Whatever he did to you, David, I want to throttle him for it. But that's neither here nor there. What is important is that you should stay away from Shaun.”

“What, because he's _so_ much like Ethan?” David asked, his voice amused and bitter all at once. “I'm sorry Connie, but like you said, you _don't_ know everything, and I do, and I can flat out say that he's nothing like Ethan.”

“That's part of the problem, David,” Connie sighed, shaking her head at him. “Shaun _isn't_ like Ethan. He also isn't a bad guy. The problem was that Ethan, before whatever happened, was boyfriend material. Shaun isn't. I've seen him pull the same routine on more people than even you could count, and it's always the same. A quick fling, lucky if it even makes it overnight. And before you ask, Daniel is an incurable gossip when Shaun isn't around, so I'm pretty sure my sources on this are top notch. And the last thing you need right now is a guy that's a 'use them and lose them' type. You need time, you need peace, and when you finally get your feet under you again, you need someone who will care for you, worship you, and love you more than you think you're worth.”

“Connie...” David sighed, and he stopped when she reached across the table to lay her hand on his arm. 

“Please, David, promise me. I can't bear to see you hurting like this. I miss my Dave. I don't know what happened to him, or when he's coming back, but I am certain that Shaun isn't the kind of guy he needs.”

There was the brief chime of the door behind them, and Connie cursed under her breath before pushing away from the table. 

“You sit here and think about that for a little. I'll be back once I deal with the customers.”

She was gone so fast he didn't have the chance to promise her anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I accidentally made Tucker/York (Yocker? Turk?) a thing and slipped some implied Churboose in there.


	3. Part Three

When the phone rang it displayed an unknown number from the Seattle area code. David, midway through stripping his coat off to toss into a chair, merely stopped mid motion as he stared down at the phone in his hand. 

It could have been anything. A friend he had forgotten to update the contact information for when he'd gotten the new phone. Someone from his old job checking in to see how he was doing. One of his parents with a new phone. A telemarketer. Someone, anyone really. But that didn't change the fact that he knew, deep in his gut, just who it had to be. 

David pressed his back up against the terrible beige of the wall and let himself slide down it into a sitting position. He stared at the phone as it rang a second time, and a third.

Don't pick up, his head screamed even as his thumb hit the accept button and put it to his ear. 

“Incoming collect call from...” the voice recording paused for half a second, the computerized woman's voice replaced by one that was deeper and set David trembling.

“Ethan Cannon,” the voice that used to make his heart beat faster for joy and longing and love grit into some recording somewhere. Now it made his pulse race for entirely different reasons. 

“For...”

“David Kearney,” the voice provided this time, and something about hearing his name so resigned and pleading, an apology in two simple words, made his stomach turn. 

“To accept this call and associated charges, please press one or say yes now. To reject this call press two or say no.”

His thumb betrayed him, hitting the one key long before his mouth could work enough to say the word he knew he _had_ to say. Had to say and keep repeating until it finally got through Ethan's thick head. 

“Dave?” Again the voice was there, this time low and pleading and dammit he wasn't going to cry over hearing it.

“Dave, are you there? You have to be, they took me off hold. Dave?”

He could't find anything to say. No, that wasn't true. He just couldn't seem to get the words he wanted from his head to his lips and through to Ethan. 

“I'm sorry. I'm so sorry...”

“Fuck you,” David heard his voice say, cold and pained and yet somehow blunt and allowing for no arguments. 

“Shit. I... This wasn't supposed to... Fuck, just give me a chance to say my piece, okay?”

He could see it in his head if he closed his eyes. Ethan sitting there, phone pressed to his ear, tongue darting over his lips to wet them like he always did when he got nervous. No, it would be more than that. Long, nimble fingers would drag through his shaggy black hair, tugging gently even as they sometimes got caught in knots Ethan had failed to work out of his hair. His deep blue eyes would be flashing across whatever room he was in, alighting on one thing after another, but none of it would hold his attention for more than a millisecond. 

“I never want to hear your voice again. Stop calling me,” he snapped, pulling the phone away from his ear before Ethan could protest and slamming his thumb on the disconnect button. Numbers flashed on the screen, telling him just how long it had taken. Fifty seconds. Fifty seconds to go from somewhat okay to completely broken. 

David hurled his phone across the room with a bitter curse. Ethan would try again. A few times probably, until it got through to him. That was just how Ethan was. 

And he needed something to keep him from answering every damn time. 

Because, once upon a time, everything had been perfect. He'd had a job he had genuinely enjoyed as the primary host at one of the highest class restaurants in Seattle, a perfect little apartment that he'd spent years getting _just_ right, tons of friends who genuinely cared about him, and he'd had Ethan. Sweet, intelligent, light of his life Ethan Cannon. 

Sometimes it was hard to see where it had all gone wrong, where it had started spiraling out of control. Sometimes it was easy to forget how bad the last few months had been. Sometimes when he closed his eyes he could still feel those lips on his, those hands on his body, his name falling from Ethan's lips like a blessing. 

For now all he had to do was raise a hand to his shoulder and feel the scar tissue under his shirt, and suddenly it wasn't so difficult to remember. 

The phone rang again, far across the room, and rang and rang until it went silent. It took everything he had not to go search for it among the forest of boxes he had and Alex hadn't been able to unpack the night before. Mostly they were books, things he had insisted he wanted to do himself. It had been as much to give himself a way to unwind as to make sure they went on his shelves perfectly. And so Alex didn't ask any questions when he opened the box marked 'E's Books' and wonder just why the one on top had a deep gouge in it, a cut piercing from the cover to halfway through the book. 

Again the ringing started and David pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapped his arms around them, and tried not to move. He failed. His head slammed back against the wall once, twice, three times with far more force than he'd intended. Still the phone was ringing, and all he could do was bury his face in the relative safety his raised knees offered, and hope for the phone to just shut up. 

Then, suddenly, silence. 

It held for all of a deep breath before the ringing started again. 

He was moving. David didn't even remember getting up, but he was moving. Stumbling across the relatively clear part of the living room toward the mess that hid the ringing. Made it as far as the coffee table when a series of gentle raps at his door halted him in his steps. Door or phone? The ringing was still there, and he took a step forward only to hear the knocks return, harder this time. Door or phone? The ring died mid-tone and the next set of knocks were even harder, almost desperate. 

Door it was then. 

* * * * * *

Alex was ready to knock yet again when the door suddenly jerked open, and with more force than when he'd knocked on it the night before. It was a strange parallel when he thought about it. Him standing at his new neighbor's door, expecting he didn't know what, and hoping he'd have an answer. Except last night he'd had a six pack and a joke to open with, and now all he had was the sound of hard thumping against the wall running in circles around his head and an odd concern tightening in his chest. 

The concern almost squeezed the breath out of him when he saw David. Gone was the amused if exhausted newcomer of the day before, replaced by a man with slightly reddened eyes, a fist clenched what had to be painfully tight at his side, and a whole body trembling like it was about to collapse. 

“Alex?” David managed to ask, and when his voice croaked out of his throat it held a note that Alex was certain meant the other man was on the edge of something. An edge he was terrified to see David pushed over. “What...?”

“Your living room shares a wall with my bedroom,” Alex explained, pitching his voice lower into the same soothing tone he used when Alexa got herself worked up. “I heard pounding about a few inches to the right of my head while I was on my bed reading. It was too awkward of a place for you to be nailing a shelf up or something. I thought I'd come over and...”

And he didn't know how to finish that sentence, and thankfully he didn't have to. The sound of what had to be David's phone ringing came from deeper into the apartment, and the way David's whole body tensed up gave him something, just one piece of the puzzle. Whoever that was on the line, David really needed to not talk to them right now. 

David's smile was strained when he looked up at Alex, and while he didn't say anything about it, he could see how David was forcing his whole body to relax. “Just my desperate ex,” David explained, his voice clearly aimed at amused and dismissive and falling short to find itself in the area of desperate to escape.

“Want a beer?”

“Desperately,” David admitted, and Alex watched the fist unclenched and came up to rub David's shoulder in a strangely meaningful way. “I should probably...”

When the smaller man started to turn away, to move toward the kitchen and leave Alex behind, he couldn't help it. Alex reached out and grabbed the smaller man around the wrist, and the way David flinched and turned his attention to that grip to stare at it spoke volumes, no it screamed them, and Alex immediately broke the contact. 

“That shit was a house-warming present. I've got way better stuff in my apartment. Come on.”

Confusion, reluctance, and finally acceptance flashed across David's face in startling rapidity before he nodded. His fingers fumbled toward the small table David had ordered Alex to put by the door the night before and his hand came up with a keyring that had a surprising number of keys on it for a man who had only just moved into town. Still, Alex didn't comment, just backed up a few steps and stayed quiet as David carefully closed the door behind him and locked it behind them. Then he looked up at Alex, clearly nervous, and Alex smiled down at him as warmly as he could manage before gesturing forward and starting for his own door just a bit down the hall. He sighed as they approached the door, realizing that in his haste to make sure David was okay he had left the door not only unlocked, but noticeably ajar. Oh well, it wasn't like Alexa was home to shout at him. She had said something about wanting to corner Connie to give her the anniversary gift—the one he'd helped her pick out yesterday—before the evening rush set in at the cafe. 

“Nice place,” David observed as they entered the apartment, his head slowly swiveling to take in the whole thing. “I didn't know we could paint the walls.”

“You didn't notice that in the lease?” Alex asked, slowly closing the door behind him and making sure not to lock it. There was something about David's posture that screamed nervous animal, and he wasn't sure how David would react to being locked in to the apartment with him. Better to be safe than sorry when you were actively stepping into an emotional minefield you knew nothing about. “You can paint any of the walls, provided you repaint them white or beige before you move out. Alexa and I are both suckers for purples, so the better part of the apartment is done in them. I like darker shades, she likes lighter, so we went sort of middle of the road in here.”

“It looks good,” David assured him, a bit more confidence in his voice. “The green trim though...”

Alex chuckled at that and moved to David's side, careful to give him plenty of room. He gestured briefly at the loveseat David had stopped by, the concession to messiness that the apartment allowed, considering it was covered with a variety of coats and jackets. Too much of the front closet was occupied by his photography gear to even suggest putting a coat in there. 

“It took us forever to decide on that one,” Alex admitted, smiling fondly at the stripe of green edging its way around the top and bottom of the walls. “Alexa wanted pale yellow, I wanted white.”

“So you two thought lime green was a good middle ground?” David actually laughed as he stripped off his coat and tossed it on the top of the mound. 

“Not us, our nephew Theodore,” Alex explained, cutting across the living room between the huge, plush black couch and the modest entertainment center to make his way straight for the kitchen and the beers in the fridge. “Our older half-brother Nikolos had dropped him on us for a weekend shortly after we moved in, and we were arguing about it in front of him. Cute kid, I promise. Maybe I'll introduce you next time we get him for a bit. Anyway, he just stood between us, took both of our hands and tugged us down to his level. Even Alexa is putty in his hands, so when he whispered 'green' like it was some big secret and started to giggle, she swept him up in her arms and declared that to be the best idea ever. Of all time. Next thing I knew we were painting the trims in green. Theta loves it.”

“Theta?” David asked, and his voice was closer as Alex dug around in the fridge and pulled out the last two well chilled bottles of his favorite imported lager. When he closed the fridge and moved for the bottle opener Alexa had fastened under the edge of the breakfast bar Alex smiled at the fact that David, of his own free will, had wandered over to join him in the kitchen. 

“It's his nickname. Nikolos is Greek, dual citizenship and every, and he's been teaching Theodore his native language since he could speak. Apparently when he was learning the Greek alphabet they got to Theta, and Theodore recognized the sound from his own name. So he pointed at it and told Nikolos in his most grown up voice that he was Theta. Kinda stuck,” Alex chuckled as he popped the caps off the bottles and offered one to David, who promptly took it. “Anyway, the kid just beams every time he visits and finds that we haven't changed it. Couldn't do it if I wanted to at this point.”

David smiled softly and shook his head before taking a sip of his beer. “Remind me never to let kids dictate my sense of décor.”

“Hey,” Alex chuckled, pointing the tip of his bottle at David in reprimand, “don't knock it until you've tried it. Anyway, I have no clue at all when Alexa is going to be back, and I can promise she isn't going to be a pain when she is, so if you're okay with it, let's go hide out in my room with these things.”

“Hide out?” David asked, tilting his head and Alex just loved how all of the tension seemed to have melted out of his neighbor already. 

“Yeah... I was supposed to save that one for her.”

Betrayed didn't even begin to cover the look David shot him, and damn if he couldn't stop laughing.

* * * * * *

The most obvious thing about Alex's room, beyond the purple walls edged in white and just how many butterflies were fluttering around David's stomach just by being in there, were the photos. It almost seemed like every last inch of wall, shelf, and any other display possible space not covered by something else had a photos on it. Black and white photos, gray-scale photos, sepia tones and full colors. Artful shots of buildings, of nature, of two hands with their fingers interwoven. One shelf seemed to be completely dedicated to photos in gaudy frames of Alex and Alexa, or them with a small dark haired and olive skinned boy who had a faint family resemblance that marked him as Theodore, or serious looking older Greek man who they towered over and seemed to tease him about. Or them with a stately older man that was clearly their father in everything from the shape of his jaw to the color of his eyes to the smile that David recognized from Alex. Then there was a stretch of wall just over the bed—covered in purple sheets of course—which showcased photos of exotic locals and Alex with groups of people in traditional clothing that suited the location. 

“You travel,” David observed as he looked carefully at a picture of Alex sprawled on the ground, covered by at least a dozen children that looked maybe Indian if he had to judge by clothes they were wearing. 

“Part and parcel for the job,” Alex admitted, flopping down onto the edge of his bed.

“Job?” David asked as he crossed the room to look at an arrangement above Alex's desk of nature shots of a forest on the edge of a lake. There was something about it that was vaguely familiar. Some vague recollection of a half-heard conversation with Caboose asking Church if they were still having a picnic by the lake this weekend with the whole cafe crew. He'd have to ask Connie about that tomorrow.

“Professional photographer. I do some freelance, some stuff for art shows, some stuff just for me, but the main part of my work is with the University. They like getting some good shots for their magazine whenever their grad students, alumni or faculty are off doing something that will 'reflect positively on the school.' They send me. Don't pay too much but they cover travel and board, so I've been to seventeen different countries, thirty-eight states, and three Canadian provinces in the last decade, and there's some whispers that I'm bound for Australia this winter,” Alex admitted, and honestly it felt more like he was reciting them by rote than out of any real interest. 

“Sounds exciting,” David teased, turning back to lean against the desk and smirk at Alex. “And by exciting I mean you really sell the life of travel and wonder. Honestly.”

Alex laughed on his bed and then sat up and gave David that insanely warm smile. “It's nice, I'm not saying it isn't, but I get bounced all over to shoot for _them_. What they want, how they want, when they want. I'd rather do it for myself. I'd rather take pictures like these,” he said, gesturing at the more candid shots over the bed. “Or those,” this time he gestured to nature the ones behind David. “And definitely more like those.”

David let his attention be pulled to the smaller arrangement on the far wall, clearly meant to be visible from Alex's bed. These were the best ones in David's opinion. The ones in black and white and grays and all sorts of styles, but they had a clear theme. People. A woman holding a pale blossom in her dark hands. An older man sitting alone on a park bench with a bouquet of flowers on his lap. A man staring out a window, shirtless, with hands coming from out of the shot to wrap around his hips possessively. 

“You're good,” David breathed as he took them all in. 

“Thank you,” Alex answered, and there was clear pleasure and preening in his voice. “All of those are personal or for shows, though. Don't really get paid so much to do them.”

“You should,” David observed as he turned back toward Alex and caught a flash of something unreadable in those eyes. 

Alex seemed to think for a while before taking a sip of his beer. “And you should model,” he countered at last, a smile on his lips that could have been teasing or utterly serious, but David couldn't figure out which. 

Still, that comment made him think of the man, Shaun, in the restaurant. The shape of his jaw, the light in his eyes, the easy smirk that made him look confident and hungry at the same time. How was he supposed to hold a candle to that? 

“I think I'll keep to waiting tables,” David sighed as he moved back toward Alex and raised a questioning eyebrow. The man immediately shuffled to the side to give David room to sit with him on the bed. 

They sat there in silence for a while, backs up against the wall, sipping their beers. It was nice, it was comfortable, and it was everything that he hadn't had since Ethan had...

Nope, not there again.

“Hey, you okay?” Alex asked almost immediately and David wanted to curse himself for tensing up again. He need to get better control over that. 

“Fine,” he lied through his teeth. “Just remembering a troublesome customer from earlier today. Nothing important.” Quick, he needed to find a way to change the topic. “Your sister dye her hair often?”

David caught Alex's questioning look before he noticed those crystal blue eyes flash over toward the shelf covered with family photos. A few showcased Alexa in a wide range of hair colors.

“Oh, that... Yeah, Alexa is just like that,” he chuckled, shaking his head. “You actually got her between dyes. Her hair had lilac tips until a few days ago. She always defaults back to blond for a bit between colors, but I'm pretty sure I'll see her with blue or green or something in the next few days. Or, who knows, maybe she'll let it be for a while. And speaking of, it looks like you could use a touch up yourself.”

David's hand came almost immediately up to his hair. He'd been meaning to do something about that. To go out to a salon or something in town and get his roots done. After all, he didn't really know how to do it himself. He'd never been the one to do them before. It had always been Eth...

“You ever dye your hair before?” David asked, and when Alex leaned forward to look at him, there was confusion clear on his face. 

“No. I prefer to keep natural. For one thing the color of the water in the tub when Alexa is done can be pretty strange...”

“Ever help your sister bleach hers?”

Something passed over Alex's face, but David, he'd never really been good at reading expressions. Whatever it was, though, Alex finally set his bottle aside on the table by the bed before carefully pulling David's from his loosening grip. That done Alex stood and offered his hand, that warm smile back in place. 

“Come on. I know where Alexa keeps her supplies.”

When David took the offered hand it was warm, and Alex's fingers briefly squeezed around his, infinitely reassuring and patient. He couldn't help but smile.

* * * * * *

“I don't know why you went black, but never go back,” Alex chuckled when David strode out of the bathroom an hour later, fresh from the shower. As frequently as David had protested using Alex's, he had insisted, pointing out that it was better to get the bleach out sooner, and it wasn't like anyone was using it anyway. 

Of course there had been a slightly ulterior motive. Seeing David there, clad in a t-shirt and track pants Alex had retrieved from his neighbor's apartment for him, with a fluffy purple towel around his neck as he frantically rubbed his hair dry was... perfect. Alex honestly couldn't hold back his pleased grin at the sight of the man so ruffled and relaxed, and he hoped to whatever god was out there that David just read the expression as amused and not inordinately pleased with how much better David looked as a blond. 

“Not intending on it,” David answered, his voice briefly hard and cold. Then he was looking up at Alex, a wide smile on his face. “Thanks for the help. I've only ever dyed to be honest. Didn't know you needed so many products.”

“You learn a bit living with Alexa,” Alex reassured him, and watched as David took particular care to rub the towel behind first one ear than the other. Geez, did this guy realize just how fucking cute he looked when he did that? 

“If you say so,” David said at length when he lowered the towel back around his neck and strode right up to Alex to snatch the beer that was still in his hand. The thing was lukewarm after how long they had been working on David's hair, but it was better than nothing, so Alex had retrieved it while David had been showering. 

To see it now, pressed against David's pale pink lips, and watch the way the other man's throat worked as he took a deep drink was... 

Fuck.

Yeah, he was definitely up a creek with this guy for a while. 

“That was mine you know,” Alex mumbled when David lowered the bottle, and couldn't help but chuckle at the little shrug he got in response. 

“You can have mine,” David suggested innocently. “I didn't drink as much as you, so I guess this way you get to have even more.”

“That's one way of looking at it,” Alex laughed as he pushed off the back of the couch and started toward his bedroom. David trailed after him from the sound of footsteps behind him, but Alex just focused himself on the bottle at the end of the trip and taking a deep swig himself. Then, as steeled as he felt he was going to get, he turned around and sat on the edge of his bed, where David soon joined him. 

“Hey, I was thinking while you were working,” David said after a moment, his voice thoughtful. “Something you said about your travels and all that.”

“You could have asked,” Alex responded, but really all he could think about was how soft David's hair had been when he'd run his fingers through it before putting on gloves. How he had smelled like strawberries before the bleach had pretty much overwhelmed his senses. How being that close to David had revealed that yes, those freckles continued down beyond the limits of David's collar. 

“You told me, very clearly, not to move around,” David pointed out, sounding quite amused. “Anyway, you mentioned the work you traveling you had done _in the last decade_. I know it's not important or anything like that, but you've got me wondering, just how old are you, Alex? I mean, you don't look a day over thirty.”

“I'll take that as a compliment,” Alex chuckled as he shook his head. “Alexa and I are actually about three years over thirty, give or take a month. Well, take a month. We're October brats.”

David's eyes were wide and Alex resisted the urge to bite his lip—damn he wanted to do that a lot around David—at the expression. Was the gap really that significant?

“What? I'm not _that_ old.”

“I'm only twenty-five,” David provided, as if the number were some kind of proof that Alex was, _in fact_ , that old. 

“Well that means that I've just got eight years more experience of the world than you do,” Alex defended himself even as in his head he kept telling himself that eight years wasn't _that_ bad of a gap, not really. Not at their ages. 

“From the looks of your pictures you've used that experience very well,” David agreed, raising his bottle in a mock toast. There was barely anything left in it, all Alex's fault of course, but David looked at the near emptiness very severely. 

“I could get something else,” Alex offered, but David just shook his head and pushed himself back to his feet. 

“Uh, I should really get going. I haven't eaten yet, and that leftover pizza isn't going to eat itself. Not yet anyway. Um, what should I do with the towel and bottle...?”

Alex just set his own bottle aside and held his hands out. Soon he was laden with a damp towel and the nearly empty bottle.

“Thanks inviting me over,” David said, his voice soft and sincere. “I think I needed something other than the mess of my apartment or the stress of work to mellow me out. And double thanks for the help with my hair. We should do this again sometime...”

“Yeah,” Alex agreed, “think nothing of it. Just trying to be a good neighbor.”

David scoffed and shook his head, “I think we're definitely more in friend territory now. Anyway, you need to walk me to the door to lock it or something?”

“No. Just don't forget your jacket, shoes or other clothes, okay?”

David nodded and waved briefly before shuffling out of the bedroom. Soon, too soon, there was the sound of the apartment door opening and closing. With a sigh Alex let the towel fall out of his hand and finished the swig left in the bottle David had stolen from him. Then he stretched out on his bed and stared up at the ceiling for a while. 

He really did look better blond. A lot better. And his hair had been so soft, like running his fingers over a duckling or something. 

Fuck.

The door opened and then slammed and Alexa's voice tore through the apartment. “You forgot to lock the door, idiot.”

Alex didn't respond. Just threw an arm over his eyes and tried to breathe normally. 

“Hey, you seen the neighbor today? Looks like he bleached his hair and... Alex, why are my bleaching supplies all over the bathroom counter?”

He'd smelled like strawberries, and maybe faintly of Irish spring soap. There had even been a hint of sugar cookies, which had been a pleasant edge. 

“Dammit. Where the hell is my lager you fuck? Alex! Alex, you haul your ass out here right now and...”

The voice grew louder as much because Alexa was raising her voice as because she was stomping toward his room. But the footsteps stopped just outside of his bedroom door and so did the shouting. 

Instead there was a tsking sigh and Alexa's voice lower, admonishing. “You _could_ just ask him out instead of sitting in here moping like a useless little shit.”

“Recently out of a bad relationship, probably straight,” Alex countered with a sigh, not removing the arm from over his eyes. 

“Poor bitch. You owe me a drink.”

“Later, Alexa. Please.”

The sound of her footsteps carried her away as Alex tried to hold on to the feeling of soft hair and the scents of strawberries, Irish spring, and fresh sugar cookies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Clearly there are reasons David doesn't talk about Ethan. Clearly.


	4. Part Four

“Oh, um, sorry but we aren't... Oh! Oh it's you Mister Washington. I didn't recognize you!” 

The sound of Caboose all but shouting in his ear made David flinch, his key jerking away from the lock on the cafe's front door. With a deep breath to calm himself he carefully slipped the key into the lock, twisted, and pushed the door open for Caboose. The far taller man gladly stumbled forward past David, babbling the whole time about, well, David wasn't quite sure what about because the other man's stream of consciousness manner of speaking when someone wasn't conversing with him was hard to follow. 

“What did you call me?” David asked as he closed the door behind them and flipped the lock again. This was the first time he'd had a chance to use the key to the cafe Connie had given him while she was helping him move. She had stressed that his first day was meant to be a short one to adjust. This being day two meant having to come in early enough to start learning everything that wasn't handling tables. 

“Mister Washington,” Caboose repeated, turning to him to smile widely. Beamed really. 

“It's Kearney. David Kearney.”

“Oh,” Caboose said, biting his lip. “Well, see, only Miss Boss Lady uses first names, and no one knows your last name so we decided to, uh, give you a name.”

“ _Give_ me a name?” 

“And Church said he heard you were from Seattle which doesn't really sound very good and Tucker said Washington would work, so we decided you'd be Washington,” Caboose explained, grinning once more. “What do you think?”

That... Was a really good question.

“I'd really rather be David,” he admitted, striding past Caboose and making for the locker room. 

“Yeah... But that doesn't work for us. How about Wash? Yes, that will do very well. I will tell Church and Tucker when they come in.”

All David could do was stare at the blond as he moved to his locker and jerked it open. David sighed and hauled open his own locker, started to pull off his own jacket, and suddenly there were arms wrapping tightly around his chest from behind him, practically cutting off his breathing. 

“Connie,” he gasped out, “Leggo.”

“Nope. Not happening. My little David is coming back!” Her arms disappeared for a moment, only long enough for him to catch a deep breath before she grabbed him by the shoulders and spun him around before throwing her arms around him again. “Look at you! Your hair...”

“Oh, is it group hug time?” Caboose asked, and before David could process the excitement in Caboose's voice there was another set of arms around his shoulders, utterly immobilizing him. 

Great. 

“Doesn't he look better as a blond?” Connie asked Caboose, grinning widely, and David rolled his eyes. 

“Oh yes, very much better,” Caboose agreed, squeezing tighter. “Wash looks much better like this. He looked sad with black hair.”

“Wash?” Connie asked, her grip loosening slightly as David watched her tilt her head to meet Caboose's eyes. “Whose idea was that?”

“Mine,” Caboose declared with another squeeze that found David biting back a yelp of pain. 

“I like it,” Connie answered, and David just groaned. 

“Could we all just let me go? Because I'm sort of here to work, not be the staff cuddle buddy,” David demanded, and immediately both sets of arms were off of him and he finally had a chance to shrug himself out of his coat. 

“Mister Wash isn't a very cheerful guy, is he Miss Boss Lady?” Caboose asked, sounding genuinely curious. 

“No, he's not,” Connie agreed and David didn't flinch at the pain in her voice as he stuffed his jacket and keys into the locker and slammed it shut. 

“Uh-oh, sounds like he's mad at us,” Caboose's voice was pitched to a stage whisper behind David. 

“Yes it does,” Connie's voice teased in a lighter way. 

“Connie... Can I have a word with you? Alone?”

The two seemed to stop for a while, to contemplate David's demand—he had put enough force behind it for it not to be a question—and at last he heard Connie sigh behind him. 

“Caboose, why don't you get started on the baking. Church should be in soon to help. Whatever you do, don't let him do anything other than measure what you tell him to,” Connie ordered, and the sound of footsteps heading further back into the kitchen marked the two of them being left alone. “Okay, he's gone. Help me pull the chairs down on the tables and...”

“Ethan called last night,” David grit out, hand pressed hard against his locker. “Couldn't handle the color any more.”

There was no response at first, and with a sigh he turned toward the hooks that the half aprons hung from and took down the one he had used the day before, tying it in place. After a moment he stiffened when Connie's hand brushed against his arm. That was all the warning he had before there was another hug, a gentler one, wrapped around his waist. Connie's forehead came to rest on his back and he could feel her fingers tangle into his shirt for half a second. 

“You'll... Tell me about everything some day, won't you?” she asked, her voice a low whisper all but mumbled into his back. 

The last time she'd held him like that, clung to him in what he had to suspect was desperation, had been the week before she'd moved out here. He'd been heading out of her house after a night of drinking, laughing over some joke she'd slung at him, and he'd been halfway through the door when she'd grabbed him. Whispered that she needed him to know they'd always be friends, no matter what. A week later she'd been gone, with no more warning than that little moment that he hadn't really thought about until later. 

“Of course,” he answered now as then, except this time the words were ash in his mouth, not a heartfelt declaration. 

Then her fingers, her arms, her head were all gone and Connie was breezing past him like they hadn't just had a moment. 

* * * * * *

“I'm gonna do it.”

“One of these days she's going to pay you back for this, Shaun,” Daniel warned with a sigh as Shaun reached for the door to the cafe. 

“I'm doing it,” Shaun insisted as he did every morning, and to be honest, he was more eager this morning than he had been in a while. Another day meant another chance to see David.

“For the love of...”

Shaun pushed the door open with the tips of his fingers and shouted, “Good mor...”

Every morning for the two years that he'd known Connie's real name, Shaun would burst through the door, call her name, and duck the hurled towel. It was the first step of his morning routine, it felt right to do it each and every day, and revel in the snickering of the employees and curses Connie would throw at him. In that whole time Shaun had never once missed the chance to say the name, Connie had never once been quick enough to hit him, and D had never once failed to catch the towel.

So the rough texture of terrycloth slapping against his face had to have been rather low on the list of things Shaun had been expecting. 

“Ah, it would seem that David has far better reflexes than Connie,” Daniel's voice observed as it passed him, and Shaun didn't, couldn't move even after the blue fabric was plucked from his face with what had to be one of the most genuine chuckles he'd ever heard from Daniel.

“Either get in or stay out,” David's voice called dispassionately from the counter, and Shaun let his eyes flash to the man behind the counter. What he found was little smirk, and a shock of blond hair that immobilized him again with just how fucking good the color looked on David.. 

“You know, if I realized that was going to break him, I might not have asked,” Connie sighed from David's side. “Those two are my best customers.”

“Do not worry, Connie, he will recover,” Daniel insisted as he handed the towel over to David, and Shaun swallowed hard at the knowledge that he could have taken that towel over himself and let his fingers brush briefly against David's. “Thank you though, David, for putting him in his place for once.”

Then Daniel was back at his side, one of his arms wrapped around Shaun's shoulder, and Shaun let himself be steered toward their booth. 

“Are you feeling alright?” Daniel asked as Shaun slid into his bench and stared at the table before him. “David was quicker on the throw than Connie typically is, but that does not explain why you are so... disturbed.”

“He looks good like that,” Shaun sighed, leaning forward and resting his chin in his cupped hands. Two years of routine ruined by a single man that he hadn't been able to get out of his mind all night. “Really good. Like, he was already a ten out of ten, but he's hit eleven like that. Can you be an eleven out of ten? Because he is.”

Daniel rolled his eyes and sighed. “It is not possible to be an eleven out of ten. Clearly your scale has been skewed by one, meaning that he is either a ten out of ten and you've been rounding people up, or he is an eleven out of eleven or some other large number and...”

“You two again?” Tucker's voice cut into their conversation with a sigh and Shaun's eyes darted toward him. 

“Where's David?” Shaun asked before he could stop himself, and out of the corner of his eyes he could see Daniel pinch the bridge of his nose in annoyance. 

“Yeah, hey to you too, Shaun,” Tucker snapped. “Just figure out what food you want so I can get back to the part of my job that doesn't involve dealing with you?”

“Coffee cake,” Shaun sighed at last, glaring down at the table. 

He expected Tucker to turn away, just walk off and go fill their orders like he had every time but when they had first met, and yet the man was still standing there, hands on his hips. 

“What?” Shaun demanded, turning his glare up toward Tucker. 

“Connie wants me to tell you to leave David alone,” Tucker admitted, smirking down at him, and he didn't even bother walking away when his message was delivered. Clearly he wanted to judge Shaun's reaction. 

“And...?” Daniel prompted for Shaun. Or Daniel was right and there was something more. 

“And I say don't back down just because she's a little protective of Wash. Guy looks like he could use a good fuck,” Tucker smiled, eyes flashing with amusement before he whirled on his heels and strode off. 

“Well,” Daniel sighed with a shake of his head when Tucker was out of earshot, “at least _one_ person is pulling for you.”

“And you're not? Oh well, could be worse,” Shaun decided after a moment, turning his attention toward the counter where the newly blond David stood. Geez that color was just so perfect on him and Shaun wanted to tangle his fingers in those short locks and pull David close back and...

“I believe that it just became so,” Daniel declared, cutting Shaun's fantasy short. The look that flashed across the other man's face with the chime of the front door opening told a story that Shaun didn't want to read. 

“No, just please tell me that it isn't...”

“I am afraid that it is,” Daniel groaned, sinking down into his seat a little, and Shaun wished that it could be that simple, that easy to dodge what was bound to happen next. But the simple fact of the matter was that all anyone could do when this happened was try to keep your head low and hope everyone got out of it with the bare minimum of bruises. 

“Of all mornings she has to pick this one to show up?” Shaun groaned, sinking into his seat himself. 

“Three... Two... One...” Daniel counted down, and then it happened. 

“Tex!”

* * * * * *

“So, Connie told me I've got to start teaching you how to make the drinks,” Tucker said as he circled back around the counter and brushed past David, “so get your ass over here.”

“It has to be this moment?” David asked as he moved away from the display case. Of course the machine Tucker had stopped in front of just so happened to be the one that faced the table where Daniel and Shaun were sitting. The table where there was a gorgeous man whose eyes kept wandering over to focus on him. 

“Yep. Church and Caboose blow at it, and she figures if I've got to call in sick she'd like to have someone to help,” Tucker explained. “Oh, and while we're at it... you left something behind in your rush to get out of here yesterday.”

“Left...” David asked and he knew his eyes must have gone wide as he looked at the napkin with Shaun's phone number on it that Tucker was waving in front of him, because there was a smirk a mile wide on Tucker's lips. “Oh.”

“Looks like someone has an admirer,” Tucker chuckled as he pressed the napkin up against David's chest. Then his hand was gone and David flailed, more out of reflex than anything else, to snatch the napkin out of the air as it fluttered toward the floor. “I don't quite understand just why you're avoiding him, other than Connie's insistence, but you're obviously interested.”

“I'm not interested,” David stammered even as he felt his hand shove the napkin in the pocket of his apron. Except the look on Tucker's face said he believed that about as far as he could throw David. 

“He's hot, he's single, he's clearly into you, and more than anything else, you look like you could use a damn good lay. And trust me, Wash, Shaun's damn...”

“Tex!” Church's voice yelped behind them, and Tucker's advice turned into a worried yelp as he ducked down behind the counter. 

“Um...” was all David could get out as he looked at Tucker cowering on the floor. 

“Shit, either get down or get away from me. Last thing I want is _her_ attention,” Tucker growled.

“David, over here,” Connie's voice called and with a shake of his head David turned to look at her. Familiarity pointed him toward the nervousness in her posture, highlighted how she chewed at her lip, and registered the concerned look she shot at Church, whose feet weren't on the floor because of the woman on the other side of the counter who had her fist tangled up in his shirt and was hauling him up over the edge of the counter. 

“What's...” he asked, and when Connie sighed and looked at the tall, blond woman in a leather jacket and a tank top, who was glaring at Church, he followed her gaze.

Then he couldn't see the glare any more because Church was halfway over the counter with a single tug and the woman was kissing him, hard. 

“Meet Allison,” Connie sighed, looking away from Church and the woman. “If Leonard waits on her, we'll probably have a shouting match. Michael and Lavernius, as you might have noticed, are terrified of her because they think she flipped a car one handed or something. They were never clear and I'm pretty sure there was a lot of booze involved. Would you...”

“Yeah,” David agreed. “I think I can handle that. But do they have to...”

“If you think is bad, you're really not going to enjoy the picnic tomorrow,” Connie chuckled to herself, thrusting an order pad at him. “Oh, and no arguing. You're coming with us if I have to drag you out of your apartment on my own in the morning. Dress warm. And one last thing...”

“Yeah?” David asked as he started around the counter. 

“If Allison looks like she's getting angry, don't turn away. Bruises on the arms upset the customers.”

Well... That wasn't really hardly encouraging. Nor, he thought as he went around the counter and watched Allison release Church—the thump he made when he hit the counter was actually kind of amusing—was the fact that Allison was making straight for the booths near where Shaun and Daniel were sitting. 

No, from the way Daniel and Shaun both seemed to be sinking down and trying to avoid notice it was worse than that, wasn't it? No, please god no, let her not...

“Morning, Tex,” Shaun said, his voice a mixture of feigned pleasantness and strain as he slid all the way against the wall. “Wasn't expecting to see you this morning, were we D?”

“No,” Daniel responded with a curtness that didn't seem in character with the man David had interacted with the day before. 

“Who's the new guy and why's he following me like a lost puppy?” the woman, Allison, demanded as she settled in next to Shaun, who seemed to coil in on himself a bit. 

“New employee,” Shaun explained, and David couldn't help a little smile at how restrained the man was behaving. 

“David,” he offered when Allison returned her attention to him. “What can I get for you?”

The woman took a moment to look him up and down, then jerked her thumb over her shoulder at Shaun. “He get you in bed yet, new kid?”

“I couldn't even begin to see how that would be any of your business,” David snapped in annoyance, and there was something about the way Shaun and Daniel both recoiled that worried him. Okay, maybe their reactions mixed with the dark look that flashed across the woman's face were what worried him. That and the heavy silence that hung over the whole cafe. 

“No one's warned you about me, have they?” Allison asked, voice cold and yet heavy with amusement. 

“Never heard your name before Connie told me,” David came right back, refusing to allow the fear this woman seemed to instill in everyone else get to him. He'd seen worse things than her before. 

The threat of punches didn't really compare to that moment of pure terror when he'd been pressed against a wall with a shaking knife held against his...

Nope. Not going there. Still not going there. Never going there again. He'd left those memories thirty six hours and twenty four hundred miles behind him. 

If only they would have the decency to stay there. 

“I like him,” Allison declared after a long moment, a menacing grin spreading over her face. “Got real balls. Not enough guys around here do. Large coffee, regular, a slice of that chocolate cream pie Connie's so good at, and one of those little pecan wheels Caboose makes. Put it on their check.”

There was a look on Shaun's face that screamed outrage, and David just smiled back at Allison. “Right away.”

He had a strange feeling he was going to like this woman.

* * * * * *

“So, what's his story?” Tex asked when David had walked away to fill her order. 

“No clue,” Shaun admitted as he pressed himself a little closer to the wall and did his level best not to complain about her order being put on his bill. She only did that, only did this whole show of coming over to sit with them, when she needed something from him.

Seeing as he owed her nothing short of his life, he had never been able to find a way to say no to anything Tex asked of him. 

“This is only David's second day on the job so far as we are aware,” Daniel provided, always better at handling Tex's presence than Shaun had ever been. 

Then again, Daniel hadn't been there that night. Hadn't been the one to watch her take out five armed gang bangers after his tools, a task she had finished by snapping the wrist of the guy who had thought the best way to deal with the psychotic beast of a woman who had just taken down his four friends was to put a gun to Shaun's head. The kid's hands had been shaky, too much for Shaun to feel comfortable trying to disarm him on his own—he could have taken on one or two of them, but not five men with guns—and Shaun had known he was going to die. That the shaking would lead to a trigger being pulled, his brains splatted across the alley. 

She broke the kid's wrist with a single kick, and somehow the force had twisted the muzzle just far enough aside when his finger had reflexively squeezed from the pain. 

Shaun hadn't been able to hear out of his left ear for a week, but really, he'd gotten off light.

“Well, it's going to be an interesting story when it comes out, so be sure to keep me appraised,” Tex ordered, and Shaun just nodded reflexively. 

Wait, had she just...

“I am not sure I understand,” Daniel said, beating Shaun to the question, “why would _you_ consider it interesting?”

“I tend to find that the only people who meet my gaze that levelly are the ones who've seen some bad shit already,” Tex observed, and all Shaun could do was stare at her. “But that's not here or there. I've got work for you, Shaun.”

“Tex, I know that Shaun attempts to drop everything to help you but...” Daniel started only to be cut off by Tex plucking something out of an interior pocket of her coat and then slamming a photo down on the table. 

Shaun only had to glance at it to recognize the person in it, and then he couldn't help but curse. 

“You found him,” Shaun sighed, a hand coming up to run through his hair. “When do you need me?”

“Shaun...” Daniel said, his voice low and urgent, “this could be...”

“Dangerous,” Shaun agreed, staring down at the image of a large man in a torn leather coat, a military style buzz cut to his black hair, and an ugly, twisted scar that trailed from the tip of his left ear to the base of his neck. “I know.”

“O'Malley...” Daniel tried again, only to stop when Shaun shook his head. 

“Give it up, D,” Tex added, her voice hard. “He knew exactly what he was getting into when he signed up for this. The bounty's good, but O'Malley has this fondness for putting some pretty serious doors between me and him. I can't do this without Shaun, and he knows that. Either he helps me, or a really bad guy stays out on the street longer than any one wants.”

There was the sound of approaching footsteps, something Shaun probably wouldn't have noticed if it hadn't been for the way his mind reacted when the very thought of O'Malley came up. Then again, who in their right mind didn't get jumpy when there was the very real possibility that the only way to get a very dangerous fugitive head of a crime syndicate off the streets was to get personally involved? 

Shit, he hadn't wanted any of this. He really should have just thrown his gear at the gang bangers and run for it. Worst they could have done would have been to kill him. O'Malley though... well, he had a reputation for drawing those kinds of things out. 

The footsteps cued Tex's hand shooting out and snatching the photo to tuck back into her pocket, and then there was David, standing at the end of their table, a large tray balanced easily on the pads of his fingers. 

“Two coffees, latte special, banana nut muffin, coffee cake, chocolate cream pie, and a pecan wheel,” David recited as he moved each item to the table. “Anything else?”

“No,” Tex said, curt and dismissive. David just rolled his eyes and strode away, and Shaun let his eyes follow the other man as long as he could without having to crawl into Tex's lap to get a good view, then he returned his attention to the table and the tension that had overtaken it. 

“When?” he asked, staring down at the snail pattern in his latte. It was a cute creation, and unsurprising; Tucker didn't risk anything offensive when Tex was at their table, he was too scared of Tex and rightly so.

“Shaun...” Daniel repeated yet again, concern weighty in his voice. 

“As soon as we're done here. You have what you need?” 

“I'll need to run up to the shop. Won't take long.”

“And you've got your arrangements handled?”

The way she said it, cold and matter of fact, cut Shaun to the quick. Yet he looked up and across the table at Daniel, who looked more than simply scared, and who shook his head. The gesture was so tiny that Shaun was certain even Tex wouldn't be able to read it. It took knowing D as long as he had to know that gesture. A denial with no force behind it. Daniel knew he'd made up his mind months ago.

“The company is in both our names,” he answered. “Daniel will be covered if something happens.”

“Good,” Tex mused before starting into her meal. “Nothing you've got to handle last minute?”

There was a flash of short blond hair and a gray shirt in the corner of his eyes, and Shaun shook his head. As scalding hot as it was he threw back half the latte in one go, took a big bite out of the coffeecake before setting it aside, and then scooted toward Tex. She read the movement for what it was and stood to get out of his way. 

“Shaun?” she asked as he rose and moved to the end of the table long enough to dig his wallet out. He threw a twenty down then tossed the wallet to Daniel. Better it not be on him if something went wrong. 

“Just one thing I've got to take care of before I get my stuff. Meet in the usual place?”

“Of course,” Tex answered, her brow scrunching up in confusion, but Shaun moved the second the affirmative fell from her lips. 

He found David standing at a nearby table, smiling at an older couple who were still hemming and hawing over their menus. The other man must have seen him coming, but he didn't react until Shaun was already stopping at his side and smiling at the couple.

“If you two would please excuse David for a moment. I need to borrow him.”

“Shaun,” David said, his voice low and warning, but Shaun just grabbed his wrist and jerked the man around so they were facing each other. 

“Wanted to say you look a lot better as a blond,” Shaun smiled, and the confusion—maybe mixed with satisfaction but he couldn't be sure—that flashed across David's face was the perfect opportunity. 

His fingers tangled in the back of David's hair as Shaun pulled him forward. David's lips were warm and slightly rough from the way they had been pursed when Shaun had pulled him in, but soft under that. And they felt so good against his. So warm, so perfect, and he couldn't help himself. His tongue darted out, licked over them, and they tasted like cinnamon and chocolate and blueberries and the way David gasped was perfect, too much of an opportunity to pass up.

After all, if things went wrong, he could be dead this time tomorrow, or at least wishing he was. 

When his tongue slid against David's for the briefest of moments, the lightest of touches, he felt the tense body pressed against his shudder slightly and relax for half a second. Then there were hands at his shoulders and before David could push him away Shaun pulled back. 

“Needed to do that in case there was never another chance,” Shaun laughed under his breath as he stared at David and marveled at the mixture of shock, anger, and _want_ on that face. 

Damn it was beautiful. 

“Wish me luck,” he said with a smile, knowing just how breathy his voice had to sound. 

“Luck?” David asked, his brain clearly still trying to catch up with the situation. 

“That'll have to do,” Shaun laughed before he pulled away and made straight for the door. 

He heard Connie curse as he pushed through the door and Tucker whoop in encouragement as he hit the street.

And all he could think about was how David had smelled like strawberries and Irish Spring and Caboose's sugar cookies. How his hair had felt like down on the bare skin of his hands and his lips had been satin against Shaun's. And how he'd tasted of cinnamon and chocolate and blueberries. 

Damn.

Well, Shaun thought as he felt a faint smile curl his lips, he had better make it through this if he wanted another chance at that, or even a first chance at David kissing back.

* * * * * *

“Shut up!” David snapped at Tucker at the same time Connie did, but he couldn't hear his own voice. All he could hear was his heart pounding in his ears, his breath coming out in quiet pants, and thoughts racing through his head.

“Are you all right, young man?” the woman at the table behind him asked, and David shook his head. Work, he reminded himself, and turned his attention back to the couple, putting Shaun and Tucker and Connie out of his head. 

“I'm sorry about that, ma'am, sir. What was it you wanted?”

His hand wrote as they ordered, but for some reason his mind just ran through the taste of latte and coffeecake and the rough heat of lips and tongue, and the chemical smell of hair gel. 

And the way he had wanted to groan at the light tug of his hair and the feel of a tongue ghosting over his own. 

“Anything else?” David asked, smiling at the pair and forcing himself to tear his thoughts away from the taste of latte and rough heat of lips and smell of...

“No,” the woman smiled, waving him off, sending a hard look at the man with her. David was thankful to have an excuse to leave, and made his way straight for the counter where Tucker and Connie were standing, the former making his eyebrows move ridiculously in a way that clearly meant to be suggestive, and the latter silently fuming. 

“David,” Connie said, taking a step forward, and he cut her off by throwing the order pad on the counter. 

“Have Tucker deliver it,” he said, forcing more calm into his voice than he really felt at that moment. 

“So...” Tucker started to say, and David just yanked the napkin from his apron pocket and, glaring at Tucker, stuffed it into the tip jar. 

Connie's expression was confused, but Tucker understood, David could see that clearly, and the kid shook his head disapprovingly. 

“I need the bathroom,” David said, a flimsy excuse and they all knew it, but no one stopped him as he fled at a carefully controlled pace for the men's room. 

When the door was locked behind him David let himself sink to the floor, back to the door, and at last his fingers did what they had been aching to do. They ghosted over his lips, assured him there was no residual heat for all that he could still _feel_ it. 

He hadn't been kissed like that since Ethan...

No, David realized after half a moment. He'd _never_ been kissed like that. The fire, the pressure, the _need_ in it, underlining an almost frantic edge he had been able to feel in the places where Shaun's body had been pressed up against his and in the gentle pulling of his hair. 

There was no comparison. He'd never been kissed like that before. Never heard someone whisper to him in such a sad, breathy way. 

David tilted his head back against the door and thought about the look in those gray eyes before Shaun had turned away. Resignation, and fear. Those were emotions he had seen far too often in the mirror. 

They didn't suit Shaun.

“Never another chance?” he quietly asked of the bathroom. “Just what's that supposed to mean?”


	5. Part Five

More than twelve hours and he could still feel the scalding heat of lips against his own. More than twelve hours and he could still taste a latte and coffeecake when he unconsciously licked his lips. He could still feel the hand in his hair tugging it gently, still feel the pressure and heat and need in those lips that had pressed against his, the tongue that had slid so briefly over his, and the body that had been held against his. 

_Needed to do that in case there was never another chance,_ Shaun had laughed, his voice low and breathy and just so damn pleased with itself, and maybe a touch scared? 

More than twelve hours and he couldn't get Shaun out of his head. 

Of course it hadn't help that Tucker had spent the whole of their shift making veiled—and not so veiled—comments about the little incident, despite Connie's threats to his job. Caboose had even added his two cents when Tucker would prompt him to, saying that it was good that 'Wash and Mister York are becoming such very good friends.' Church had, thankfully, stayed out of the conversation, clearly too distracted by the return of his 'on-again off-again on-again off-again oh will you make up your damn minds already' (as Tucker put it) girlfriend Allison. She'd left shortly after Shaun with another possessive kiss of Church over the counter, leaving Daniel alone at the booth, staring blankly down at the table, his grip too tight on his mug of coffee. Something in the way that Daniel had stayed there for a full two hours and gone through four coffees and three muffins had made Shaun's whispered words... most unnerving. 

Then again, even going back to the apartment hadn't been enough to free his mind of the memory. A meal and flopping down in front of his television hadn't been enough. Finally moving to fill his bookshelves—minus one box of course—hadn't been enough. So he had hauled his shoes back on and opted for the only thing that had managed to distract him from Shaun's stupidity the night before. 

Just his luck that it hadn't been the right twin who had opened the door. 

“You,” Alexa didn't quite greet so much as glower when she opened the door. She probably would have even glared down at him if they hadn't been the same height. As it was she met his eyes with an icy look. “Fifty bucks.”

“Excuse me?” David asked, actively recoiling a bit when she held her hand out expectantly. 

“Fifty bucks. Between the product you used, drinking my beer, and just generally annoying me, that's what you owe me.”

The look on her face was utterly serious and David found himself going for his wallet before he could really think about it. 

“Alexa? Who's...” Alex's voice came from further into the apartment, and David pulled his hands away from his pockets. 

“Alex, your sister is...” David called out, and backed further away when Alexa sneered at him. 

“Just greeting someone that I figure is here for you,” Alexa shouted back, and in moments David was rescued by the arrival of Alex. “Just waiting to see what he wants to beg off of us tonight.”

“Alexa, I know you're prone to being a catty bitch, but could you, I don't know, abandon that for ten minutes and go back to whatever it was you were doing?” Alex asked, shooting David a smile over his sister's shoulder. It wasn't just warm, though. No, it made David think more of the smile that Alex had shot him when he'd come out of the shower the night before. Yeah, it was warm, but there was something else, something... appreciative? 

No, David was just reading something into that look because of Shaun.

“Fuck you,” Alexa sighed, but she pushed away from the door frame and strode off, leaving David alone with her brother. 

“Sorry. Looks like you got your first real interaction with my sister. She's... a bit testy tonight. Well, she's a bit testy all the time,” Alex laughed, shaking his head as he stepped forward to lean against the door frame. “What can I do for you? Decided to dye your hair next?”

“No,” David chuckled, though looking at Alex there was a part of him that wanted that. Wanted to feel those fingers in his hair, tugging at it lightly and...

Okay, there were times and places where things like that were appropriate to think about. Standing there in the hall in front of Alex, where anyone could come by and see them, was neither the time nor the place, regardless of whether or not that dark purple button-up shirt that wasn't fully buttoned and thus gave David a good view of his collar bones was sexy. 

“Well then, what can I do for you? I'll admit right now that we're running low on alcohol in here so...”

“You know, just because we had drinks last night and the night before doesn't mean I'm only after you for your alcohol,” David laughed, and almost immediately wanted to call the words back. Shit, that sounded a bit forward, didn't it? Yet Alex didn't seem to read anything wrong with the words because he just smiled and shook his head.

“I know that look on your face. Bad day at work?”

“Shit,” David confirmed. “Really messed up. And my only friend in town is my boss, who I really can't deal with right now especially since she's dragging me to some event tomorrow. I don't want to impose on you but...”

“Hey, Alexa!” Alex called over his shoulder as he strode back into the apartment. “I'm heading out. Don't blow the apartment up while I'm gone!” 

David watched as Alex stopped by the loveseat and started to root around for a coat. The way he bent over as he dug through the pile drew David's eyes over his body, how could it not. Alex was in amazing shape, and David couldn't help but wonder how Alex's body would feel pressed against his rather than Shaun's. What would it be like to have Alex lean down to kiss him, to hold him to...

“Okay,” Alex said as he turned back to David and hauled on his coat, “I know a good place downtown. It gets sort of busy on Fridays, but if I'm right I know someone working there tonight. If nothing else, we'll get quick service.”

Which might or might not be a good thing, David realized as he stood aside so Alex could close and lock his door. He'd always been a lightweight when it came to drinking, and some of the decisions he'd made before had been...

_A knife pressed to his neck, shaking as Ethan stared at him, eyes wide and hurt and crazy._

Well, this wasn't going to bite him in the ass in the same way. 

Dear god he hoped not.

* * * * * *

“Well if it isn't tall, blond and not screaming,” the bartender laughed as Alex finally made it through the press of people to the bar, David trailing behind him. “What brings you around my place, North?”

“North?” David asked as he came to a stop at Alex's elbow. 

“Oh, and you brought a...” Lacey started to chuckle and Alex shot her the sharpest look he could manage. She must have caught it because she trailed off and just smiled at David instead. 

“A what?” David insisted, sliding onto a stool and glancing between Lacey and Alex. 

“Friend. I normally come here alone,” Alex lied quickly, shooting Lacey another look. “Right, _Alicia_?” 

There was a wide smile on the woman's face, and a tension around her eyes that told Alex that she read the meaning in him using her full name. 

“Yeah, North isn't exactly the most social guy at bars,” Lacey said at length. “I'm guessing you'll want the usual?”

“For me at least,” Alex confirmed as he took the stool next to David's. “Open a tab for us?”

“You got it, North. And what can I get you...?”

“David,” he frowned, “and just get me whatever he's having.” With that he turned his attention to Alex, “You know, you're really going to have to explain this 'north' thing to me.”

“Should have realized that would be a repercussion of meeting up with Lacey,” Alex laughed, shaking his head as Lacey moved to get their drinks. “Lacey's naturalized to this area, like me and Alexa. We all went to college together, and I meant that in the loosest way possible. All different majors, but Lacey and Alexa met in some extracurricular group and before I knew it our little twosome was a three, and...”

Alex shrugged. It was a lot harder to tell this story with Alexa's pretty serious insistence that strangers had no business knowing her sexuality. But it was a lot harder to explain Lacey when he left out the fact that his sister had been involved with the woman for a good period of time. 

“Anyway, there were a lot of people named Alex or variations thereupon when we were in school. Eventually it was determined that people needed other modifiers to explain which Alex or Alexis or Alexandra or whatever they were referring to. Some people went by their last names. Others had nicknames from growing up. Unfortunately Alex and Alexa weren't going to work, Alexa refused to be referred to as 'the twins,' and our last name was the same so Lacey came up with an answer. Alexa and I are from a small town in South Dakota called Lemmon. It's practically on the border with North Dakota, no kidding. We came out here for college, clearly, but Lacey jumped on that detail readily and referred to us collectively as the 'Dakotas.' Alexa was dubbed 'South' and I got 'North' because I was taller. These days the only person who calls either of us by those names is Lacey,” Alex explained.

Of course, as he finished that explanation Lacey was back, plopping bottles down in front of them, and smiling. 

“Yeah, and in return South dubbed me 'Four-Seven' because I'm from New Mexico,” Lacey laughed, shaking her head. “You need anything else, North, just wave. I'll make time for you.” With that she was back to work, already halfway down the bar dealing with someone else. 

“Four-Seven?” David asked, tilting his head in an endearing way as he sipped from his bottle.

“Lacey's from New Mexico,” Alex explained. “Forty-seventh state. New Mexico was a mouthful, so we just called her forty-seven. Then Alexa was far too drunk one night and it became Four-Seven. Don't ask me. My sister is flat out crazy.”

David laughed, “Reminds me of Connie.”

“Connie?” Alex asked in shock, bottle frozen halfway to his mouth.

“Yeah. Shit, I've only called her Rebecca or Becky in front of you, haven't I?” David asked, shaking his head before sipping from his bottle again. “The old friend who helped me find a place and a job out here? Also my boss now, funnily enough. Anyway she pretty much hates her first name, and I'm one of the few people who get away with using it. Never liked it. At last, in high school, she decided she was tired of being called something she hated, and sat me down for a brain storming session on a new name for herself.”

“How did you get to Connie from Rebecca?” Alex asked, hoping that his voice sounded more interested than confused. Could it have been possible that he'd misread the situation? The timing was right, wasn't it? If Alexa had been late on Wednesday because she'd been with Connie, then the woman who David had met and insisted was a friend, like a sister, could have been Connie. And Connie had known that Jenkins had moved out of the apartment that was now David's, in part because Jenkins had been the fourth on her cafe's 'blue team,' which would make David the replacement Alexa said Connie was bringing in. The old friend who had been moving out here because of relationship troubles...

Which matched up with how David had been when Alex had knocked on his door the night before. 

“Connie's parents were, _are_ , pretty serious Catholics. She had to do the whole rigamarole. Which includes a little something called Confirmation, where a person goes from a child to an adult in the eyes of the Church. You take on the name of some saint as you become part of the community. This was about the same time she wanted her own name that wasn't Rebecca. So I helped her go through books of saints and we found this daughter of the Emperor Constantine. Thus she picked up Constance as a name, and we started calling her Connie,” David provided. “Took a lot of pushing from me and E...”

David trailed off suddenly and Alex couldn't help but notice the baleful glare he sent at the bottle in his hand and the tightening of his grip on it. 

“You're going to break that, and I doubt your ex is worth the ER trip,” Alex said gently, hoping the guess was good as he thought when he placed his hand gently on David's arm. 

“That piece of shit isn't even worth the cost of the beer,” David spat as his hand relaxed. “Sorry... It was a pretty rough break up.”

“Seems like it,” Alex agreed, finally turning his attention to his drink. The first chance he got he was going to have to steal Connie from his sister and get as much of the story as he could out of her. The last thing he wanted was to keep trying stumbling blindly into the clear war zone of David's previous relationship. 

She must have been some special piece of trash to mess David up this much.

“Anyway, we're here to drink away your shitty day at work, right? Willing to tell me just what was up with that?”

* * * * * *

And with just that, a single question, David couldn't help but think of Shaun's fingers in his hair, the heat of his lips, and the press of his body. 

“Worst day ever. Of all time,” David declared as he finished his drink. Alex's hand was almost immediately up and within seconds Lacey was there with another for him. 

“Wow, pretty weighty declaration there, David. Manage to get fired already?” Alex chuckled, a deep, throaty thing that made David tingle all over—or maybe that was the beer. 

“No,” David sighed, shaking his head. No, that might have made things easier. He could have spent his next few days looking out for a new job rather than getting dragged to a picnic with coworkers he didn't like, and ones he didn't know. “Nothing that bad, I guess. Just... Well, for one thing my coworkers decided that they were going to give me a nickname.”

“Seriously? Third day in town and you're already making name for yourself,” Alex laughed. 

“Yeah, except I had no say. They decided that I'm henceforth to be referred to as Wash.”

Alex raised an eyebrow then smirked before sipping his beer. “Let me guess, you're from Washington, D.C.?”

“Seattle actually, but they decided that wasn't _worthy_ enough. And then it happened, the customer from hell.”

“Surely it wasn't that bad,” Alex soothed, his hand coming out to rest on David's hand again, and it was only that light—burning—touch that made him realize that he'd been squeezing his bottle too hard again. “What did they do?”

Lips, searing hot, pressed against his own. Fingers tangled in his hair, tugging gently and something in his shock or subconscious had kept him from groaning. He had tasted like a hot cup of latte and Connie's special coffeecake. His hair had the tangy smell of gel in it. His voice had been low and breathy and hungry.

David hated himself for playing it over and over in his head so many times. This was supposed to be a distraction from that, not a reliving. 

“Kissed me,” David said at length, taking another swig of his beer. “Right in front of other customers he just came up, pulled me against him, and kissed me.”

He could still feel it on his lips.

“ _He?_ ” 

Shit. Shit shit shit shit.

“Some asshole regular,” David continued quickly, refusing to look up from his bottle, refusing to glance at Alex. Fuck, he hadn't been supposed to mention the part where it had been a guy. That was probably going to make Alex all kinds of uncomfortable. Fuck, why did he have to mess up this friendship so quickly?

“I'm guessing you didn't like it,” Alex said after a minute, his voice still completely level, though possibly a hint amused.

David's attention almost immediately snapped to Alex—a dizzying move to be honest—and what he found on the other man's face wasn't disgust or regret. No, Alex looked somewhere between amused and pitying. 

“I'm not exactly fond of relative strangers kissing me in front of customers, no,” David admitted, watching Alex's face carefully. 

“You should have punched him,” Alex suggested with another sip of his drink. “Maybe twice.”

“Would have if he hadn't pretty much fled the cafe immediately,” David sighed, raising a hand to run through his hair. Not that it hadn't been nice and all of that, and damn it had been nice to have something other than Ethan to think about all day. But there were lines that weren't supposed to be crossed, and kissing strangers was one of them, even when you had been asked out by them first. 

“Well, consider doing it next time you see him, provided your boss will let you,” Alex suggested, smiling widely as if there was some secret little joke behind it. “Was this out of the blue?”

“He... tried to get my number yesterday,” David admitted with a sigh. “When that didn't work he left me his. I threw it away. Like hell I need to waste my time on some self entitled ass who thinks he can hit on anyone and everything.”

“I've seen the type,” Alex agreed with a serious nod. “But you didn't answer my question...”

“Question?” David found himself parroting as he took another draw from his beer. He had been hoping that Alex would forget that part. Because the answer had to be a powerful yes. 

Alex sighed and finished his beer, gesturing Lacey over. The idea was a good one, and David quickly downed the rest of his bottle. Before he could even put it back on the bar there was a new one waiting for him, the bottle cool under his hand when he grabbed it. 

“Listen, David, I don't mean to pry, but clearly whatever happened with your ex was... complicated. That much is clear just from how upset you get at hints about them,” Alex started after another sip, turning on his stool and giving David what he thought was a comforting smile. “And normally I'd never suggest this sort of thing to anyone because honestly I find the idea a bit... distasteful. But sometimes after a really bad relationship, you need to put some _thing_ between you and the other person. Well, not something so much as some _one_.”

“Kind of hard to entertain the idea of a rebound when you're a month out of eight on-again off-again years together, and a longer friendship,” David sighed before taking another drag of his drink. He was going to hate himself for it in the morning. In fact, Connie was probably going to have to haul him out of bed like she had threatened if he didn't stop soon. 

“Maybe,” Alex agreed, frowning. “But a rebound isn't necessarily what you need. Something less than that is probably more what you'd be looking for. Sort of like... a bite of sorbet to clear the palette between courses at a fancy dinner, you know?”

David couldn't help it. He started giggling, actually giggling, at the look on Alex's face, at the very suggestion. There was a flash of annoyance across Alex's face, just barely there, but David kept laughing.

“What's so funny,” Alex demanded. 

“The way you're dancing around suggesting a one-night stand,” David choked out around his laughter. “Just say it, Alex. You think I should find someone to screw. If all my problems were so easily solved that way, I'd probably agree. As it is...” 

He twisted the bottle around in his hands a few times before taking another sip. “As it is I don't think there is anything further from my mind than a quick fuck.”

No, his mind, and his eyes, were following the line of Alex's jaw, wondering just what it would be like to place kisses along it. Wondering how Alex would kiss compared to Shaun. He already knew what those fingers felt like in his hair, even brushing faintly along the skin of his neck. 

He really never should have agreed to going to the bar with Alex. Connie had always told him he was an affectionate drunk. Maybe too affectionate. And now here he was, far too much alcohol in his system, more likely to follow, sitting with a man he was already attracted to, talking about sex. 

This was the stupidest idea ever. 

“Just a suggestion,” Alex agreed after a moment, and the way their eyes met, the way he was swallowing, hard, made David shiver slightly in his seat. 

There was no way Alex couldn't tell he was staring, right? 

Fuck. 

“In the mean time,” David declared, tearing his eyes from Alex to stare down at his bottle instead, “a few more drinks because I'd rather not think about anything more complicated than how obnoxiously green your bartender friend's hair is.”

“It is pretty green,” Alex chuckled back, and when he tipped his bottle toward David, David didn't hesitate to tap the neck of his bottle against Alex's. 

Focusing on silly things like that went a lot further to keeping himself under control than talking did.

* * * * * *

“I shouldna had tha fif beer,” David slurred as they stumbled from the elevator. 

“Honestly, I don't think you should have had the fourth, or the third,” Alex chuckled as he readjusted David's arm around his shoulder, hauling his friend a bit higher up so he didn't have to bend over so much to keep him from falling. “You're a serious lightweight.”

“Shuddap,” David groaned as they stumbled down the hall toward their rooms. “I jus don' wanna 'member.”

“Well, there's a bit of a chance of that,” Alex agreed as they shuffled down the hall together, more than half of David's weight on him. They'd been like this since the bar, and in the end Alex had been glad that he'd insisted on a cab both ways. Not that he'd expected David to end up in quite this state. 

“No,” David disagreed, his voice painfully sober for a moment for all that Alex knew that wasn't possible. “Never going to forget.”

There was a weight to the declaration that made Alex shudder. 

“'Smy door,” David's voice groaned as Alex brought them to a stop. 

“You still have your keys?” 

“Here,” came the chuckling reply as David fumbled in his pocket and the keys, predictably, fell to the floor. “Whoops.”

“Whoops is right,” Alex chuckled right back, twisting around with David. “Gonna need you to stay standing on your own for a moment. Think you can do that?”

“Maybe?” David asked as he smiled and nodded. Well, at least David was cheery kind of drunk. 

Carefully Alex leaned David against the wall by his door and bent over to pick up the keys. When he straightened he had just enough time to register the fact that David had stumbled forward a step before there were hands fisted in the collar of his shirt and Alex found himself pulled down to David's level. 

David's lips only managed to brush briefly over his before Alex got his hands up to David's shoulders and pushed him back. 

“No,” Alex insisted firmly, maybe harder than he should have because it was more for his own sake than David's. “You're drunk.”

“Yeah,” David agreed, giggling up at him. “But I wann'ed a kiss you.”

“Maybe,” Alex sighed as he leaned David against the wall again and fumbled through his keys to find the one for the apartment. In seconds he had the door open and had returned to David, pulling one of David's arms over his shoulder again to help him in. “But you're still drunk.”

“I wann'ed a,” David insisted as Alex navigated them through the door. 

“I'm sure,” Alex grunted as he realized that David was starting to topple, and he was going sideways too fast for Alex to fix it. As quickly as he could manage he spun them both so that they were at least going down on a clear part of the floor, rather than risking David hitting his head on something. Of course that meant they were sprawled on the floor, door open, with David half on top of him, which was doing _nothing_ for the situation. 

David, probably having seen the whole thing as an opportunity—because Alex couldn't believe it was deliberate—leaned up a bit to press his lips against Alex's jaw in a fumbling kiss. Followed by another a bit higher up his jaw, and another, and Alex actually groaned when the quick kisses reached just below his ear, earning him a pleased chuckle from David.

“Lemme...”

“Nope,” Alex insisted as he wiggled out from under David and pushed himself to his feet. “But rest assured, we're going to have a long talk about this when you're sober. Damn long one.”

With a sigh he moved to close the door and drop David's keys into the bowl by the door. With that done he turned and stared down at David, who was honest to god pouting up at him. 

“You're not going to work with me on this, are you?”

“Maybe,” David giggled again, and Alex just sighed. Fine, he could do this the hard way. He was, after all, Alexa's brother. Dealing with an uncooperative drunk wasn't exactly outside of his realm of experience. Of course he'd never dealt with a drunk who was affectionate—Alexa got surly around men—but it couldn't be too different. 

“You're a pain,” Alex sighed as he carefully moved to crouch at David's side. He dodged the fumbling hands as best he could as he slid his arms under David's back and knees and lifted him, bridal style. That, unsurprisingly, seemed to suit David just fine, as he was wrapping his arms around Alex's neck and leaning into Alex's hold almost immediately.

“You're strong,” David observed.

“A little,” Alex agreed as he slowly navigated the apartment, thankful that David had been an idiot and left half the lights in the place on. The bedroom should be just over...

“Ethan couldn't even carry a tune.”

“Ethan?” Alex asked as he skirted the couch and made for the door he remembered David moving some boxes marked 'bedroom' into. He hoped keeping David talking would prevent his hands and lips from wandering more.

“My ex.”

That... answered that question. 

“Thas m'bed,” David said with an adorable smile on his face as Alex finally made it through the door. The light wasn't on in this room, so Alex just stumbled toward the mattress, cursed when he kicked a stand by the bed, and dumped David on the bed. 

“Yeah, figured that since we're in your apartment,” Alex sighed. “Have you unpacked any medicine yet?”

“Unpacked?” David asked, and Alex just shook his head and went to the bathroom on his own. It didn't take much rooting around through the medicine cabinet to find a large bottle of aspirin. With that in hand he moved to the kitchen, filled a glass with water, and returned to the bedroom to find a bedside lamp on and David lying on the bed with his shirt half off and his arms wrapped around a pillow. 

“Yeah... I'm just going to leave these here for the morning,” Alex chuckled to himself. “I don't think I want to trust you with anything more complicated than sleeping right now.”

“Stay?” David asked. 

He wanted to, he really did. 

“Not happening until we've had that long conversation, okay?” Alex answered. “But for now we've got to get you out of those clothes. You'll hate yourself tomorrow if you sleep in them.”

David must have understood the meaning behind the words, though not the sentiment, because his grip on the pillow instantly slacked and he was leaning up toward Alex, a look on his face that made Alex bite his lip and shake his head. 

“Nope,” Alex repeated, catching David's hands as they stretched for him. “Not happening. Now stay still...”

It wasn't easy to get David's shirt up over his head while knocking his hands away wherever they tried to grab for him. Still, Alex managed it somehow, and tossed the shirt aside, and he was left staring at what was left before him. 

“David,” he gasped, unable to keep himself from reaching out and running his fingers along the nasty scar that cut across David's skin, starting close to his neck on the right side, sweeping over his shoulder, and then curving sharply toward his chest. “What...?”

Suddenly David was moving, slapping his touch away and retreating across the bed.

“Don't _touch_ me,” David snarled, fear and panic in his eyes. 

“I...”

“Go _away!_ ” 

“David,” Alex sighed, reaching out toward him, but that seemed only to amplify the fear on David's face.

“Don't touch me,” David repeated. “Go away.”

Quietly Alex backed away from the bed and stopped by the door with a sigh. 

“We're gonna have a really long talk about this tomorrow, okay? The first chance we get. All of it,” Alex insisted, his words quiet and strong. “Okay?”

“I'm sorry, Ethan...” David answered, his voice barely a whisper. “I didn't mean to...”

The words trailed off slowly, fading into silence, and when Alex looked back over his shoulder he found that David had stretched out on the bed again, wrapped around a pillow. His eyes were closed, his chest slowly raising and falling in sleep. 

Part of him wanted to move to David's side, finish taking off his shoes and socks and maybe even pants so he'd be comfortable. Another wanted to climb into the bed with David and hold him tightly and whisper that he'd never let someone hurt him like this Ethan had ever again. In the end he just left, turning out the lights of the apartment behind him as he went. 

Tomorrow he'd have to corner both David and Connie and have some seriously long conversations.


	6. Part Six

David couldn't be sure which it was that woke him: the ringing of his phone or the pounding that the ringing started behind his eyes. Either way he groaned and rolled toward the nightstand where he always kept his phone while sleeping. His hand fumbled around for a bit, the ringing still screaming through his headache, until he hit something heavy that shouldn't have been there. Confused David carefully cracked his eyes open the slightest bit and found himself peering at the tall glass of water his fingers were brushed up against, and the bottle of aspirin just beyond it. 

The ringing stopped as David slowly levered himself up into a sitting position and reached for the bottle of aspirin. As he fumbled with the childproof cap—what the fuck was even the point of those—he took stock of his situation. The phone had stopped ringing, which was a blessing, but it wasn't hard to figure out just why he hadn't found it: he was still wearing his pants. He'd slept the whole night in them, and the uncomfortable bulge in his pocket had to be his wallet and phone. With a sigh he relented in his attempts to get at the precious pain pills so he could haul his phone out of his pocket. 

It was pushing eleven on Saturday morning, or so the phone advertised just below the notification that he'd missed a call from Connie. 

Fuck. That was not a good thing. She wasn't going to stop calling if he didn't respond to her. 

And he wasn't willing to deal with her without aspirin. He had more than enough experience to be certain that he couldn't handle the pitch of Connie's voice when he was hungover.

Which of course, raised the question as to why he was hungover. With a sigh David returned his attention to the bottle, finally getting it open and fishing out a pair of pills. 

Normally he wasn't thoughtful enough to leave all of this stuff out for himself, and he didn't tend to find himself even partially undressed when he woke up after drinking too much. Oh well, that was something to deal with later. The pills washed down easily enough with the water and David pushed himself from the bed. Connie would undoubtedly arrive soon to haul him to the damn picnic like she'd threatened, and if he didn't get ready first, she was going to torment him by shouting the whole time. So with a sigh David stripped out of his clothes, grabbed his phone, and started a text message as he made for the bathroom. 

_Sorry Connie, just woke up. Gonna grab a shower. Let yourself in when you get here._

_i wuz gunna ;-)_ Connie's reply came as David discarded the phone on the edge of the sink before climbing into the shower. 

He didn't even have the water temperature adjusted to his preferred level before he heard knocking on the apartment door. Good thing the phone had woken him when it had. There was nothing, absolutely nothing, worse than having Connie wake him up. As much as he loved her, she had a propensity for being... forceful. There had been more than one occasion he had been awoken by an attack of tickles. 

“David!” her voice sang out as the apartment door slammed and David winced at the noise before grabbing for the shampoo. “You in the shower?!”

“I already told you I was going to be,” he growled under his breath as he lathered up and listened as his friend seemed to purposefully stomp around the apartment. 

“Oh, what's this?” Connie asked, amusement in her voice. 

“Probably something you've seen before,” David shouted back before ducking his head under the shower to rinse his hair. No time for a full shower if Connie was going to be poking around. 

“David, did you meet someone last night?” Connie asked, and her voice was at the bathroom door. 

“Meet someone?” he echoed, confused. He remembered getting home, remembered not being able to focus thanks to Shaun, remembered going to Alex and...

Fuck, he'd been drinking with Alex. 

“Yeah, there was a note in your keys bowl,” Connie answered, and if David strained he could hear a piece of paper being flapped around in her hand. “Pretty cryptic if you ask me.”

“What's it say?”

“You going to tell me what happened last night?” she countered, laughter in her voice. 

“I will if you tell me what it says,” he suggested, knowing he wouldn't tell her either way, mostly because he didn't remember too much. He remembered Alex explaining nicknames, telling Alex about Shaun kissing him, and the older man suggesting that he would probably benefit from getting laid.

Which he might have worried about actually having achieved with Alex without remembering if he hadn't awoken with his pants still on. 

“All it says is 'We need to talk.' No name or anything. That's no fun. Now how am I ever going to know who it is that you need to talk to or why I found your door unlocked?” Connie asked, clearly pouting. 

David took a quickly moment to run a bar of soap over himself and rinse, stealing the time to try and piece together what else might have happened the night before. Why would Alex want to talk to him? Shit, what had he done other than get stupidly drunk again?

“Connie, could you pass me some towels?”

“Oh come on, David, we both know I've got no interest in what's between your legs so...”

“Just get me the damn towels,” David snapped in annoyance. He listened to Connie fumble though the bathroom closet as he shoved hid head under the stream of water once more before shutting it off. Almost immediately there were two towels tossed over the curtain rod and David hauled one down to wrap around his waist and draped the other around his neck. In truth he didn't need the second, but it was the best way to hide the new scar from his friend. 

“You're just no fun,” Connie accused him as David pushed the curtain back and glared at her. She just smiled up at him from where she was seated on the toilet and held up the piece of paper, which did indeed have the message she had read written on it in a neat, even hand. “Come on, aren't you going to tell me?”

“It's nothing,” David insisted as he pushed past her. “How long do I have to get ready?”

“As much time as you need,” Connie assured him, and he could hear the amusement in her voice as she added, “Provided you don't need more than ten minutes.”

“You're a slave driver, Connie.”

“You love me anyway.”

“Yeah,” David agreed as he continued to the bedroom and closed the door behind him, “I do.”

* * * * * *

Shaun couldn't be entirely certain what it was that woke him. It could have been the low, steady beep that he couldn't entirely explain the source of. Or maybe it was the sound of a soft voice echoing through some speaker or something. But really, if he had to bet, he wouldn't have hesitated to put his money on the hissed argument between Daniel and Tex's voices occurring just a few feet away. With a groan Shaun opened his eyes and tried not to panic when half of his vision was black. 

“I do not care how you attempt to dodge the responsibility, the truth of the matter is that the only reason he is hurt, Tex, is because of your insistence on dragging him into dangerous situations,” Daniel growled with a particular venom in his voice that Shaun had never heard before. 

“He knew what sort of situation he was...” Tex started to say as Shaun let his gaze dart around the room and confirm in only a few seconds that he was indeed in a hospital.

“Knowing and being suited to a situation are two vastly different things!” Daniel shouted, actually _shouted._

“Do you mind?” Shaun groaned, and he could almost feel all of the intensity of the other two turn on him. “You're making my head hurt.”

There was the noise of footsteps and Shaun groaned at how they cut through his head before he was granted a glimpse of Daniel and Tex moving to his side. Tex looked pretty okay, but her lip was clearly split and the flash of white he saw under the edge of her shirt when she crossed her arms said that her ribs at the very least were bound up. Well, at least one of them had managed to get out of this relatively unhurt. Even Tex deferred to doctor's orders when she was messed up, as much as she hated it.

Daniel, on the other hand, looked like the hell that Shaun felt. He was still wearing the same green on green on green dress clothes he'd been wearing when Shaun had seen him last but he looked rumpled in a way that Shaun had never seen before. His eyes were bloodshot, his hands wringing at each other in a nervous gesture, and he could see Daniel biting his lip. 

“Shaun, are you...” Daniel asked, and went silent as Shaun tried to sit up a bit. Almost immediately Tex was there, carefully tucking an arm behind his shoulders and helping him lean forward while Daniel carefully readjusted pillows to help Shaun sit up a bit straighter. 

“Hey,” he smiled at the pair as they frowned down at him. “Anyone care to explain why I can't see out of my left eye?”

The look that Daniel shot at Tex was a bitter one as his friend sat in the chair at his side and Tex backed away to lean against the wall. Still, Tex wasn't explaining anything, so Shaun let his attention rest heavily on Daniel, meeting those bloodshot green eyes as levelly as he could. Which, to be honest, was harder than he thought given how strange it was to only have one eye to look out of.

At last Daniel sighed and leaned back in his chair with a shake of his head. “From what I understand, from the _little_ Tex told me, O'Malley was prepared for you both. The door you were working for her was trapped, and you only noticed just as it began to open. The... The...”

Daniel's voice trailed off into clear pain as Shaun watched his friend bury his face in his hands. 

“You managed to get most of yourself covered,” Tex continued, a hand coming to rest on Daniel's shoulder, but he shrugged it off sharply, disdainfully. “The least of your damage is a lot of cuts from shrapnel taken to the arms. Unfortunately you had to move suddenly and couldn't cover yourself entirely, so...”

“The doctors are not certain whether or not you will be able to see from that eye again,” Daniel cut in, his voice hard and cold as his hands came down and he turned to glare up at Tex. “It is her fault.”

“It's O'Malley's fault,” Tex countered almost immediately.

“How could you dare to...”

“Shut-up, both of you,” Shaun snapped, and both sets of eyes snapped back to him. “This is what it is, and if it's _anyone's_ fault, D, it's mine. I should have noticed, and I didn't. That will teach me to be more cautious in the future. The important thing right now is whether or not we hit what we were aiming for to make the worst worthwhile. Tex?”

The look on her face was all the answer he needed, and Shaun sighed as he turned his attention away from the the pair at his side. Hesitantly he let his hand come up to his face and let his fingers gently poke at the thick gauze he found encircling his head. Then he pulled his hand away and smiled at the two waiting for his response. 

“I know it sucks, D, but I can't let this go. Maybe now more than ever. I'm still in if you find him again, Tex. But next time, get yourself a second set of hands to help you pin the ass down?”

Daniel's expression fell just before he threw himself out of the chair and Shaun watched his friend stalk out of the room in a huff. When Daniel was gone Shaun returned his attention to Tex. Her own expression betrayed just how upset she was over how everything had gone. 

“I know just the guy,” was her response before she shook her head, “but I don't know if I can take you again. I... Shit, Shaun, you got pretty beat up, and I don't think Daniel's ever going to forgive me for that.” 

“Yeah,” Shaun agreed with a sigh. “Thing is, we've known each other pretty much our whole lives. I don't quite know _why_ we're friends, except that we've always been. It's gotten to the point where I know D almost as well as I know the back of my own hand, and he's been known to predict even my most unpredictable actions beyond any reasonable sort of accuracy. When I moved here, no I suppose it's better to say that when my family kicked me out and I came out here with my Uncle's help, Daniel didn't even hesitate. He had better things for him back there, but he hauled his ass to this middle of nowhere city and didn't hesitate to do so for a moment because... Well, I don't know why. So you'll forgive me if I'm not surprised that Daniel's more than a little pissed at us both.”

“We might even deserve it,” Tex agreed with a sigh as she pushed herself off the wall. 

“You going somewhere? I'm sure you at least owe me entertainment. Tons of it,” Shaun chuckled to himself.

“Yeah, and I'd give it if it wasn't for the fact that it's Connie's fall picnic today and Church is expecting me to join him there, I'd happily stay and do that duty. As it is...”

“Wait, it's _Saturday_?” Shaun demanded. “Fuck. This year is the first time D and I had earned invites and I get to spend it in the hospital instead?”

Tex chuckled and continued to the door. “I'll send your best wishes. Any messages you want delivered? Perhaps for that cute blond guy you made out with?”

“I hate you,” Shaun sighed in annoyance. 

“Yeah, I'm not sure he's going to believe that one with how you kissed him yesterday, but I'll try to sell it.” 

If he'd had anything to throw near to hand, he probably would have tried to hit her, even with his messed up depth perception. 

* * * * * *

“So you're that new guy Wash that Connie met who kissed Shaun?”

“Wow,” David said as he stared at the young man who had been introduced to him as 'Donut' who seemed to be smiling up at him very excitedly. “That statement was wrong in so many ways that I honestly don't know where to begin.”

“It's nice to see him finally meeting a nice young man such as yourself,” Donut continued, still beaming as he continued to shake David's hand. And Connie, damn her, was giggling at David's side rather than stepping in and stopping this farce.

“For one thing, I'm older than you. For another, I've known Connie for well over a decade. Next, my name is David, not Wash. And finally, I didn't kiss him, he kissed me against my will!” David snapped, each statement louder and harsher than the last. And yet the idiot just kept smiling and shaking his hand. At last David yanked his hand away in annoyance. 

“Well, now that _is_ a better story,” Donut insisted, smiling sagely to himself and nodding. 

“Okay, but legitimately, Connie, _what the fuck_?” David demanded, only to earn a commiserating look from the chubby looking, dark haired guy in an orange hawaiian print shirt. 

“Seriously, he's like that _all_ the time,” the man, David seemed to remember his name as being Grif, sighed. 

“Not all the time,” the third member of 'red team,' a pale, red haired and glasses wearing guy called Simmons—who the hell had the cruelty to name their kid Richard Simmons—shrugged. “Sometimes he tries to hit on Shaun.”

“Now Simmons, I don't do that,” Donut protested cheerfully. “I just try to be friendly.”

“A little too friendly,” Grif grumbled as he moved to flop down on one of the large blankets that had been set out beside the lake. 

“Will you just shut up?” the older, gruff looking man taking items out of one of the coolers by the blankets snapped at Grif. 

“I'm not on shift right now, so how about you bite me?” Grif countered, a lazy grin on his face. 

“And that would be Sarge,” Connie continued with her introductions at last, gesturing toward the older man. “He manages evenings while I do the back room work. Don't let his attitude scare you. He's actually just a giant teddy bear on the inside.”

“A giant teddy bear made of anger and explosives maybe,” Tucker grumbled, finally back from hauling Caboose away from the lake, the larger man stumbling after him. “Whatever you do, Wash, don't work evenings.”

“I heard that, ya damn blue,” Sarge growled.

“If I've told you guys once, I've told you guys a thousand times, red shift versus blue shift is all in your heads,” Connie sighed, hands going to her hips. “You're all my employees so it doesn't matter in the slightest.”

“Well clearly you trust evening shift more since you don't oversee us personally,” Simmons suggested. 

“Yeah, the only reason she actually works our shift is because Jenkins left,” Tucker countered, pushing Caboose into a sitting position on one of the blankets. “And because no one wants Church in charge of anyone.”

“These... Are seriously the people you choose to interact with on a daily basis,” David observed with a sigh. 

“Sometimes the family we end up finding ourselves with can be better than the family chosen for us by birth,” Connie laughed, grabbing David by the wrist and hauling him down onto a blanket next to her. “Now come on, this is a thing for us. Consider it mandatory quality time with your fellow employees.”

“Mandatory that is suspiciously lacking in Church,” David pointed out with a sigh.

“Oh, don't worry,” Caboose cheered as he took a cookie from a sleeve of them, ignoring the pointed glares from everyone else around him. “I got a call from my best friend and he said that he was going to be late because Tex had something she had to deal with.”

“Tex is coming?” Simmons squeaked, and David couldn't help but smile at the look of fear on his face. Really, what these people found scary about that woman he didn't know. 

“People employees are dating are always invited,” Connie explained. “We also tend to invite some of our better customers, but they don't always show up.”

“Hey, don't think you're having this party without us,” a familiar female voice observed from the direction of the parking lot and David felt himself going rigid. No, that wasn't possible... was it?

“Oh, if it isn't Miss Alexa!” Donut greeted, bounding from the blanket. 

“Not her too,” Simmons groaned, and even Grif, who David had been sure had already fallen asleep, had gone stiff at Donut's cheerful declaration.

“Them?” Tucker groaned in annoyance. “Oh come on Connie, you can't be...”

Except Connie was already on her feet and striding away to greet the pair that David could clearly see when he glanced over his shoulder. Donut beaten her to the punch, of course, but Alexa just dodged the greeting, leaving Alex standing around with Donut giving him a friendly hug. Well, at least David had been spared that. Connie hugged Alexa as well, then shook Alex's hand, and glanced back over her shoulder at David and gestured for him to come join her. 

With a sigh David pushed himself to his feet, schooled his expression, and walked over to the other two with his hands in his pockets.

“David, I'd like you to meet...” Connie started to introduce them before Alexa cut her off with a bark of laughter. 

“We've already met,” Alexa observed, something just short of a sneer on her lips. “His new bleach job was courtesy of my idiot brother.”

Connie looked back and forth between Alex and David quickly, a flash of confusion on her face. “Wait, you three have already...?”

“You know how I mentioned that guy from the apartment who had been helping me move stuff?” David asked, waiting for the slight acknowledging nod from Connie before he gestured toward Alex. 

“Really, Connie, you shouldn't be surprised that we met,” Alex continued for him, a smile on his face. “We're neighbors.”

“Yeah, I guess I just didn't expect you guys to become familiar with each other in just a few days,” Connie shrugged. “Oh well. Anyway, David, Alex and Alexa are actually some of our best customers, though you haven't seen them because they tend to visit during red shift. I think they're secretly not morning people.”

“No secret about it,” Alexa chuckled. “Now, do you have those muffins with you or am I going to have to be annoyed?”

“Hey Caboose, get out the muffins!” Connie shouted, turning and starting back toward the blanket with Alexa and Donut trailing after her. 

Amazing how quickly David had found himself left alone with Alex. 

“So... Uh,” David said, hand coming up to run through his hair, “About the message you left me...”

“We need to talk,” Alex agreed. “I'm not sure here is the best place for...”

“Whatever I said or did, I'm sorry,” David apologized, not wanting to drag this out. “I've been told no small number of times that I really shouldn't drink too much. Anyway, I'm guessing you're the reason the aspirin and water were there this morning, so thanks for that.”

“How much do you remember about last night?” Alex asked, his voice utterly serious.

“To be honest? The last thing I remember is you telling me I need to get laid.”

“That wasn't exactly what I meant,” Alex sighed, and there was something that flashed across his face, but it was there and gone so fast that David couldn't read it. “That's all you remember?”

“Yeah. I'm sorry. I'm guessing that I probably did something stupid, so I'm sorry for that, but honestly, I'd rather not know about it. I promise not to ask to hit any bars again, though. So... What was it you wanted to talk about?”

“Nothing,” Alex answered, smiling warmly at him. “Just wanted to say you should probably think twice before going out drinking like that. I practically had to carry you back to your apartment. It's not an experience I want to repeat.”

David nodded and couldn't help but shuffle his feet. “Uh, so...”

“I'm not here to interfere with your getting to know your fellow employees and relax,” Alex insisted.

“Still, it's nice to have a friendly face around that isn't the one forcing this on me. I don't suppose I can use you as a shield against the others, can I?”

“Sure. But I promised Connie I'd talk to her about something first, so once that's over you can use me to protect you from Sarge's shouting if you need,” Alex assured him, and with that the two of them started to move toward the blankets. 

* * * * * *

“Yeah, yeah, I'll be right back. Alexa, make sure no one kills anyone else,” Connie called over her shoulder as they strode slowly along the side of the lake. There was an annoyed tsk from Alexa that was as much confirmation as he knew his sister was gonna give, and then Connie had sped up enough to walk just in front of Alex. 

“What the fuck is going on, Alex?” Connie demanded once they were out of earshot of the group. “You know I don't appreciate being dragged away from...”

“Tell me everything you know about Ethan.”

“How do you know that name?” Connie demanded, her voice low and full of bile. Alex hadn't been expecting that, but honestly, he probably should have considering how David had reacted to him the night before. 

“David got a bit wasted last night,” Alex explained. “When I brought him back to his apartment he mentioned the name.”

“Okay, first of all, I apologize to anything he might have done last night,” Connie sighed. “David's an affectionate drunk, sorta like Alexa...”

“She's only around you.”

“...and he'd been known to get kissy. So, yeah, don't hold that against him. It's just what he does. As for Ethan... I'm not sure that story is mine to tell.”

“I know Ethan's his ex, that they were together for a long time and separated recently, and I know that when I tried to help him undress last night and I reacted to that scar on his shoulder he stated freaking out, begging me to go away, and started apologizing to Ethan,” Alex provided, and the further he went into the explanation the more he could see shock and fury building on Connie's face. “The day before that he got a call from his ex, several I suspect, and something about it upset him so much that I heard him banging his head against the wall from my bedroom. When I came over he was shaking, practically on the edge of a breakdown. So while I don't know what's going on with this Ethan person, I'm pretty sure he messed David up pretty seriously and I don't want to trigger something like I accidentally did last night just trying to be a good friend. So I need to know about Ethan.”

“What scar?” Connie asked, her voice shaking. 

“You didn't...” 

“ _What scar, Alex_?” Connie snarled, turning and glaring at him. 

“Connie, David doesn't remember any of last night. He doesn't know what he let slip, and I'm certain slip is the right word considering the fact that you clearly don't know what is going on,” Alex answered, keeping his voice low and soothing as he tried to figure out just why David wouldn't have shared this with Connie. “If he won't talk to you about this, his best friend, then whatever happened was pretty bad. And I'm pretty sure it was terrible. There's too much to suggest he was hurt more than emotionally. So really, we need to act like this is a normal sort of conversation.”

“I... Alright,” Connie sighed. “What do you want to know?”

“Everything you can tell me.”

With a sigh Connie turned and the two of them started walking again. “Ethan was another student at our high school. The three of us were friends for most of our lives, and when Ethan came out during high school, I knew it was only a matter of time until David and him ended up together. They weren't as close as David and I were, but under the right circumstances, you know? Anyway, Ethan didn't have a good home life. His parents didn't approve of his sexuality, they didn't approve of David, and they sure as hell didn't approve of me. I was pretty sure they abused him, but I could never find any proof. Anyway, Ethan... was never really stable because of that, but being around David seemed to do him so much good, and David loved him so much, so I never said anything...”

“What did you want to say?” Alex asked, because he could hear it in her voice that it was important. 

“Ethan... Was a bit obsessive about David. It started small when they were first dating. Just occasionally being afraid that David was lying to him or flirting with other guys or other stupid stuff,” Connie admitted, shaking her head. “Over time it got worse. By the time I was set up to come out here and start up my business... Fuck, I knew I shouldn't have left. He didn't have a scar when I left, Alex. He was fine, their relationship was fine, everything was fine. Then he just called me up out of the blue and told me he had broken up with Ethan and was moving out here and... Tell me about the scar?”

“Starts along side his neck, moves toward his shoulder, and curves back down his chest. I... I'm not the best judge at this sort of stuff, but Connie, I'm pretty sure this Ethan did that to him,” Alex whispered.

“I'll kill him,” Connie growled, and the fire in her voice reminded Alex a lot of his sister. 

“Connie, please...” he soothed, worried at the sheer hatred in her voice. 

“No, Alex, don't you dare try and calm me down. I left David alone back there, I left him behind with that asshole who wasn't good enough for him, and he got hurt. If I'd stayed, if I had been there...”

“We can't change the past, and shouldn't second guess it,” Alex insisted, keeping his voice quiet.

“Don't tell me what to do, Alex,” she snapped back at him. 

“What David needs right now isn't anger and aggression, Connie. It's support and patience.”

“Yeah, and just why should I listen too...” 

She looked up at him, must have read his concern for what it was, because the next thing Alex knew Connie was shaking her head and cursing. “Alexa told me you had fallen for some 'poor oblivious sap.' That was... David wasn't it? Shit. You really do have a propensity for falling for people fast, don't you? Well, news flash, Alex, he's not ready for a relationship, wouldn't be even if Ethan hadn't hurt him. And I'm pretty sure you're right on that one. Fuck, once I get my hands on Ethan I'm going to...”

“Shouldn't your concern for now be on your friend?” he asked, and Connie trailed off, almost as if she were deflating from the question. 

“Yeah. Don't worry, though, I won't tell him you told me all this. I expect that, in the long run, it would screw up any chance you'd have with him. And I'm sorta pulling for you, Alex. You're a really nice guy and that's what he needs.” Connie stopped and shook her head. “I'll deal with the Ethan stuff and you just... Keep watching out for him, okay?”

To be honest, Alex wasn't sure he could do anything but that.


	7. Part Seven

They arrived hand in hand, Church smiling and Tex frowning quietly to herself in a way that made David's stomach do the strangest little flips. There was something about the split lip, about the stiffness as she strong-armed Caboose aside when the cheerful blond tried to give her a hug, and when he saw it he _knew_. Knew in a way that started as a low keening in the pit of his stomach and built up to a painful pitch in his head but never makes it past his lips. The long sleeves of her leather coat hid her arms, but the way her arm had tensed when she pushed Caboose aside told him more than he liked. And for the life of him, David couldn't understand why they all just looked at her and brushed it off. 

“Afternoon, Tex!” Donut greeted cheerfully—he had apparently declared himself the welcome wagon for the red shift, who had all gone tense again like they had when Alexa arrived—and she just nodded in a minute way and let Caboose grab Church's arm and drag him away from her. 

David watched as her arms crossed over her chest, a slow and deliberate motion that sent phantom pains flaring across his own chest. Something in the way she walked toward them told him she had at least one cracked rib, if not more. And the flash in her eyes as she looked at him, met his gaze, was undoubtedly recognition. 

“Gentlemen,” Tex greeted the group as she drew closer, amusement in her voice but her eyes were still on him. “Alexa.”

“Bitch,” Alexa said right back, a mixture of amusement and disdain in her tone. “Didn't know you were back in town. Just get bored and decide to chase Church for a while?”

“Don't have to chase what comes when ordered,” Tex responded, and the way that Church choked on the glass of something or other Tucker had forced into his hands spoke volumes of the double meaning that made Tex's lips curve in amusement. 

“Whatever,” Alexa grumbled, and David watched her attention shoot back up the lake toward where Connie and Alex had gone.

“Helps when you keep them on a short leash,” Tex continued, not bothering to move to sit. 

David couldn't blame her. His own body ached with the remembered echoes of pain that came from trying to sit too abruptly with a cracked rib. 

“If you need to keep them on a leash they're more of a pet than a lover,” Alexa countered easily, and David just watched the looks the two of them shot at each other for a moment, wondering if there was history there. Then he quickly decided that wasn't likely considering the way Church seemed relatively unbothered by the conversation, except the not-so-veiled parts that were clearly supposed to be about him. 

“I suppose that depends on how the leash is used,” Tex chuckled low in the back of her throat, and with that David was actually done with this conversation. 

“Looks like it didn't get used properly,” Alexa snapped, smirk curling her lips, and the look on Tex's face was dark. “Tell me, was it your _pet_ who did that, or one of your marks?”

“Marks?” David couldn't help but ask, and then the attention of both of the women were on him, annoyance in Alexa's eyes, and a hint of murder in Tex's. He was pretty sure those expressions were meant for each other, not for him, but that didn't make it any less unnerving to see them intent on him like this. 

“Allison is a bounty hunter,” Alexa explained, smirking. “So either Church finally found a backbone...”

“Hey!”

“Or she bit off something bigger than she could chew.”

_Needed to do that in case there was never another chance..._ Shaun's voice echoed in his mind, and the concern it had been said with suddenly and painfully fit itself the right way around in his head. 

“You work with Shaun,” he said, turning his attention fully toward Tex, and the pain that flashed across her face confirmed it for him.

“Not... exactly,” Tex sighed, shifting at last to sit down, and David managed to hold back a wince of sympathy. “Shaun's a locksmith, a damn fine one. I got him licensed as a bounty hunter a few years back so he'd be legal to work with me, but I only drag him into my work once in a while.”

“Who's Shaun?” Alexa asked, and David could hear the frown in her voice over having the conversation stolen from her. 

“An annoying regular in every night,” Grif grumbled from somewhere but David wasn't tearing his eyes from Tex to look for him.

“Mornings too,” Tucker provided. “First thing, him and Daniel. Practically more regular than you, Alexa. Strange, I thought Connie invited those idiots this year.”

“He kissed Wash,” Donut happily added, and David just groaned at that pronunciation. The way Alexa looked him up and down at it was more than enough to confirm that no, her twin wasn't the gossipy type who would have told her. And now everyone had to fucking know. 

“They won't be here,” Tex said at length and David watched as she bit her lip, carefully aiming for the bottom corner furthest from the split. “Shaun's in the hospital.”

David couldn't help but flinch at the declaration. Practice kept his breath even and his hands from shaking as he thought of the scents of clinical strength cleaning fluids, the chill that always seemed to be in the air, the scrape of a rough blanket against his legs while he tried so hard to stay still while the nurse drew blood and assured him that he was going to be fine.

“The fuck did you get him into?” Tucker demanded, already on his feet. Strange, David hadn't thought that Tucker cared that much for the 'annoying fuckass' he seemed to see Shaun as. 

“I don't think that's remotely your business, Tucker,” Tex answered, her voice level and David found himself surprised to see Tucker holding his ground despite the fear he'd displayed toward the woman the day before. 

“Yeah, except with you people being in the hospital is never something simple,” Tucker accused, his voice sounding hard. “I may not like the annoying fuckass, but what the fuck, Tex?”

“Tucker,” Church interrupted, his voice filled with a warning and his arm coming up to tug on the black man's hand was enough to draw David's attention for just a moment. Which meant, of course, he missed the return of Connie and Alex until he heard his best friend's voice behind him.

“What's going on?” Connie demanded, her voice hard in a way that rivaled Tex's to be completely honest. 

“This bitch got Shaun put in the hospital,” Tucker accused and David bit his lip at the way the word made his stomach turn all over again. “Seriously, what the fuck, Tex?”

“Tucker, shut up,” Connie snapped, and David watched as she turned her attention in turn to Tex. “I know you're not obligated to share with the audience, but I would really appreciate it if you decided to share a bit more with us than just 'he's in the hospital' seeing as it's probably your fault.”

“And just how the hell do you figure that?” Tex demanded. 

“The way you and Shaun rushed out yesterday morning. You clearly had a job for him. And now he's suddenly in the hospital? Come on, Tex, we can all two and two together.”

“Four!” Caboose shouted cheerfully.

“So just say something,” Connie finished, ignoring Caboose. 

With a sigh Tex pushed herself to her feet, her eyes rolling as she did. “It's not your place to demand anything of me, _Rebecca._ Despite that, I'll say Shaun's in the hospital, he got hurt doing something important that he cared about being involved in. Anything else is his business to tell you.”

“Tex...” Church's voice was soft and pleading and yet David watched as Tex stood there and shot a glare at her boyfriend. 

“Yeah, I'm just not in the mood for this right now, Church. I'm sure Tucker can give you a lift home.”

“Oh come on, I hate driving him anywhere,” Tucker groaned. 

The others seemed content to let her go, to just watch as Tex strode off. David didn't know what drove him to his feet, but before he knew it he was following her. Rushing after a woman that should not have moved with such speed and confidence with the pain he knew she had to be feeling in her ribs. She was faster than he'd expected, though, and David only caught up to her when she was pulling keys out of her pocket and starting to haul herself into a beat up old Jeep. 

“Wait...” he said, and her eyes flashed to him and filled with pity. 

“He'd probably appreciate a visit from you,” she sighed as she settled into her seat and thrust her keys into the ignition. “I'm heading back there now, so if you want...”

“I only met him the day before yesterday,” David admitted, running a hand through his hair. “He wouldn't want to...”

“Get in or don't, I frankly don't care,” Tex answered, pulling on her belt. “But we both know what you're going to do, so just get it over with already.”

They both knew? Well, that was news to David. He still hadn't made up his mind, had he? 

_Needed to do that in case there was never another chance..._

David hooked his hand over one of the roll bars of the Jeep and hauled himself into the passenger seat. 

* * * * * *

This wasn't how the day was supposed to have gone. Shaun had meant to wake up this morning, throw on that shirt that he'd been told about a hundred times made him look fuckable, and sweep in to Connie's picnic as part of phase two of 'Operation Seduce the New Employee.' While there he was supposed to indulge in Sarge's grilling skills—which were apparently ample—and Donut's sugar cookies, and Caboose's cupcakes and maybe even glut himself on anything that tasted like blueberries or cinnamon to help him remember the taste of David's lips, and maybe remind David of the kiss. There should have been frisbee with Tucker or breaking up Simmons and Daniel as they discussed boring shit and ruined the fun. He had planned to make Connie laugh and Church curse and David watch him hungrily or at least with something other than annoyance. 

Instead he was still lying on a hospital bed, taking in the silent disapproval and concern of Daniel as he glared down at his lackluster hospital meal and waited for his doctor to come back with an optometrist and some machinery to check his eye out. 

“Shaun...” Daniel said at last, and almost immediately Shaun was sitting up a bit higher, ready to actually _talk_ to his best friend rather than continuing to dance around the whole situation like they had been doing since Tex had left. 

“Yeah, D?”

“Are you going to eat that jello cup?” 

All he could do was laugh, despite how it hurt his head, and toss the cup and spoon at his friend. “Man, even in a hospital you can't help but indulge that sweet tooth of yours, can you?”

“It did not appear that you were going to consume it yourself,” Daniel answered immediately as he caught the treat and carefully peeled the lid back. “I believe it would be a shame to let it go...”

Daniel stopped short at the sound of a throat clearing at his door, and Shaun let his attention move from his friend to the newcomer. Or maybe it would have been accurate to say the return visitor. Because, honestly, he hadn't expected to see Tex at that moment. Hadn't she said she was going to the picnic? She hadn't been gone long enough to be reasonable, and yet there she was, standing in the door. 

“Tex...” he cautiously greeted, well aware of the way Daniel was tensing up beside him. 

“Don't ask. Brought you a guest. Mind giving them the room, D?” she asked, no, it would have been more accurate to say she demanded politely. Of course Shaun knew Daniel wasn't going to move, wasn't going to leave them alone.

Until, that was, Tex moved aside and Shaun was left staring at a very nervous, almost jumpy looking David. The blond's eyes went wide as he got a good look at Shaun, and he let himself believe for half a second it was because he just looked _too_ good, even in a hospital gown. But the way David's gaze traced the gauze that covered half his face, darted to the additional lengths up and down his arms, and his mouth fell open to say something but failed to... 

It was more fun to delude himself. 

“Of course,” Daniel said after a moment, pushing himself from the seat, and Shaun just watched as his friend rose, jello cup still in hand, and purposefully head for the door. 

In a matter of seconds Shaun found himself alone with David, who was starting nervously into the room. 

“Well, honestly, you weren't high up on my expected list when she said visitor,” Shaun admitted as David finally picked his way over to the seat Daniel had vacated. “I figured maybe Tucker or Connie, or Donut. I was seriously hoping it wouldn't be Caboose because his hugs are just...”

“What happened?” David asked as he sat down in Daniel's chair, and Shaun sighed. 

“Nothing much, just a little accident,” Shaun started to say, only to see the hard look in David's eyes.

“Tex is a bounty hunter. You're a locksmith. So clearly you were doing something that a normally sane person wouldn't,” David pointed out. 

“Yeah, well D would tell you I'm not a...”

“When you kissed me, you said it was in case you never had another chance. You asked me to wish you luck. You _knew_ you were going into a dangerous situation,” David kept going, as if Shaun hadn't bothered to say anything at all. “And now here you are, fucked up like I haven't seen since... Well, in a while. So let's not dance around things, Shaun. What the _fuck_ happened?”

There was a hard, desperate edge to David's voice that Shaun didn't know how to explain, or dodge. Instead he just sighed and brought his fingers up to the head wrapping for what had to be the hundredth time since he'd woken. 

“Simple version? A really terrible guy that Tex has been trying to take off the streets for a while now ended up back in town. He's gotten used to her hunting him and sets his safe-houses up pretty securely. She needed a specialist to back her up on the doors, and I agreed to help. The asshole booby-trapped the thing, and like a booby, I set it off. Long story short I may or may not be able to see out of my eye. We're waiting for the doctors to figure that out.”

For a while David was silent, and Shaun couldn't help but squirm a little at the heavy atmosphere the room had taken on. He hated it when things were quiet. But clearly David wanted that and he couldn't find it in himself to pierce the pensive air David was seemingly clouded by. 

“You knew you were going into a dangerous situation,” David repeated, a touch of accusation in his voice. And it didn't take Shaun long to figure out just why that was. 

“Yeah,” he agreed. “This guy Tex was after... honestly we were lucky to get out of it as well as we did given how badly I fucked up. I...”

He hadn't figured on waking up in a hospital. Shaun's expectations had either been walking away with his cut of the bounty money, waking up tied to a chair in some dirty warehouse with his whole body on fire from pain, or not waking up at all.

Expecting all of that he'd still gone through with it. 

“And the one thing you wanted to do before throwing yourself stupidly into danger was kiss me?” David asked, and the question was weightier than Shaun expected to hear. 

“Yeah. I guess it was,” he chuckled, looking away, unwilling to see the rejection on David's face right at that moment. 

Shaun didn't know exactly how he expected it to happen. Maybe a sharp bark of disdainful laughter. Maybe the sound of David standing to walk away. Maybe a pitying sound that got him no where but didn't exactly cut him off at the knees in the future. Maybe even David saying something nice but dismissive. 

He hadn't expected the warm hand that covered his, the fingers that curled into the space between his fingers and thumb, or the gentle squeeze that came with the loose grip. 

“You're an idiot,” David told him as Shaun looked back at the other man, his eye wide. “The worst kind of idiot.”

“Tell me something I don't know,” Shaun teased, keeping the hope out of his voice as those warm fingers gently squeezed his hand again. 

“You get one chance,” David's voice was smooth and gentle and maybe weightier than Shaun could quite account for as his heart leapt into his throat. “Consider it a... concession to how flattering it is that not getting a chance to kiss me would have been a regret of yours. Consider it pity for the stupidly wounded. Consider it whatever you want, but you get one chance once you're out of here to prove to me that you're even worth a second glance.”

“And the kiss wasn't enough for that?” Shaun teased. “You looked quite...”

“And don't say something so fucking stupid that I have to take the chance away,” David insisted, his voice firm. “Got it?”

* * * * * *

Shaun was stronger than David had given him credit for, because David honestly hadn't expected himself to be pulled from his seat by his loose grip on Shaun's fingers. He was suddenly on his feet and bent over the bed nonetheless, Shaun's arms wrapped around him along with a complicated tangle that included IVs and wires. 

Nor was he expecting the uninjured part of Shaun's face to be buried in the crook of his neck, or the words Shaun whispered against his skin, making his heart ache with pity even as the touch made his skin burn, “I'll prove whatever you need me to. You've just gotta stay on my right side, okay?”

“I...” 

David hesitated, hated himself for it almost immediately, and then tentatively wrapped his free arm around Shaun's shoulders. Habit and experience found him rubbing gentle circles on the older man's back. 

“I will. But I'm only going to do it because I prefer to have room to wind up before I punch idiots,” he said, whispered really. 

Something in the way he said it or the specific words, or maybe his unspoken assurance that Shaun would pull through this with his vision, seemed to be the breaking point that Shaun had been holding himself back from. Under David's loose embrace he could feel Shaun's shoulders start to shake, and he could feel the moisture against his neck. Shaun's hands tangled desperately into the back of David's shirt, and all he could do was stand there, hold him, and mumble wordless reassurances into Shaun's ear. 

He stayed there long past when the position was uncomfortable, holding Shaun through the quiet sobs. Stayed there despite the fact that he heard two sets of feet rush back to the room, and for all that Shaun couldn't, he could see Tex and Daniel when his eyes darted to the door. Pain was still on Tex's face, plain as it had been for most of the ride to the hospital. Daniel, though, looked blatantly relieved, almost like a heavy weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

“Fuck,” Shaun eventually gasped into David's neck around the sobs. “I must seem...”

“It's normal,” David promised, cutting Shaun off before he could disparage himself. He knew that better than most, was painfully aware of that with the fact that the gauze on Shaun's face would have been pressed directly against the newest of his scars if he hadn't been wearing his t-shirt. “Sometimes... Sometimes we just need to let it go.”

The hands in his shirt tightened again as Tex and Daniel slipped from the room once more, leaving David alone with Shaun for a while longer in a silence that was broken by the sound of monitoring machines and muffled sobs. 

“I feel like an idiot,” Shaun observed a minute later, choking the sobs back as his hands finally loosened. Carefully David untangled himself from the mass of arms wires and IVs and returned to the seat, pointedly meeting the gaze of Shaun's uncovered eye. “Went from trying to play the whole thing off to celebrating you giving me the time of day to crying in, what, two minutes flat?”

“If it helps, it's endearing,” David admitted as he shifted in the seat to try and feel more comfortable. Granted he knew the thing that made him tense was the wet spot on his shoulder, and there was nothing he could do to fix that anytime soon. 

“You're kidding,” Shaun chuckled as he brought his bandaged arm up to wipe the tears from his face. “Unless you're the kind of guy who likes sobbing wrecks. I promise that I'm not like this normally.”

“No,” David chuckled in spite of himself as he watched Shaun try to use the back of his hand to get some of the moisture from his eye without bumping the heart monitor clamped around his finger. “It's just nice to see someone handling a situation like this as they should.”

“As opposed to?”

It took a lot for David to keep his hand from going to his shoulder and the worst of his scars. 

“Being cold. Pretending it doesn't affect you,” David suggested from personal experience. 

Shaun raised an interested eyebrow but David just ignored it as someone cleared their voice at the door, and when he looked he found a pair of men in white coats standing there looking very pointedly at Shaun. 

“I'll... Just go find Tex and Daniel,” David said, pushing himself from the chair and quickly excusing himself. He didn't even get a chance to make it far, because the pair were waiting just outside of the room. Tex was leaning against the wall and Daniel had plopped down into a chair near her. 

“Thank you,” Daniel said, looking up at him as David stopped before the pair. “Shaun had... yet to properly process the situation. If nothing else, you have done him much good.”

David sighed as he flopped down into the chair next to Daniel, and stared down at his hands. 

“Hey, you...” Tex started to say, and David felt her hand come down on his scarred shoulder. He reached up and grabbed her wrist, and surprisingly, he found her letting him easily remove her hand from his shoulder. Still, once it was gone she shook his grip off and defaulted back to standing against the wall, arms crossed over her chest. 

“If I might make a guess,” Daniel asked, and David nodded permission for him to continue without looking, “you are not fond of hospitals, are you?”

“Not in the slightest,” David agreed, refusing to grit his teeth. 

“That makes your presence here all the more appreciated,” Daniel assured him, and David could hear the smile in his voice. “I am sure Shaun will also be adequately appreciative.”

Maybe, but that didn't mean David liked it. The colors, the sounds, the smell of the place all made him want to shudder. If he didn't focus on the here and now he could feel the cold hands of a rough nurse on him, trying to place a line. Remember the searing pain the blade had left in it's wake. Remember the ache in his chest from a cracked rip. Remember the ache in his leg from the break. Remember any one of the other injuries he didn't want to think about, didn't want to remember, didn't want to have lived through. 

“Maybe, but Connie's going to have my head for this. The picnic wasn't optional for employees.”

* * * * * *

“Could you not tell them what you told me?” Shaun asked, letting his fingers tangle into the blanket one of the doctors—he didn't remember the guy's name—had tucked up around his waist after they had finished looking him over. 

“If that is what you want,” the optometrist said, his voice sounding like he was saying it was only proper. “Should we send them in when we leave?”

“Yeah. I'd like that,” Shaun said as he resisted the urge to let his fingers come up and play across the exposed skin on the left side of his face.

Of course his doctor, the one who was generally in charge of him, seemed to notice the twitch of his fingers, and frowned pretty severely at Shaun. “If you scratch at those stitches, I'm going to send nurse DuFresne in here to deal with you,” the man threatened. 

Shaun just shuddered at the thought. That nurse had a cheerfulness to him that reminded Shaun almost alarmingly of Donut but a quiet forcefulness when it came to patient care that was more in line with Tex. “Yeah, I'll remember.”

“Good. The damage is bad enough without us having to deal with you reopening your wounds,” the doctor insisted. With that he gestured to his colleague and the pair headed for the door. 

Moments later the mixed trio of friend, romantic interest, and batshit insane bounty hunter strode into the room, all looking various degrees of tense. Daniel seemed a bit better than before, while David looked on the verge of fleeing. Yet all three of them seemed to pause when they took in the sight of him without the bandages. 

“They say I'm going to end up with some pretty impressive scars,” Shaun greeted them, keeping his voice as level as possible. “Nothing they could do about that.”

“And your vision?” Daniel asked, crossing immediately to the seat David had most recently vacated. 

“About that...” Shaun sighed heavily and while Tex stayed at the foot of his bed, an expression akin to relief flashing through her eyes, both David and Daniel tensed at his sigh.

Which, granted, was what he wanted of them. 

“Hey David...” Shaun continued, holding his hand out, and damn if the other man didn't move to his side, Daniel even making room for him. The blond seemed reluctant for a moment, but Shaun just held his hand out until David rolled his eyes and laid his fingers in Shaun's hand. 

“You'll stay on my right side, yeah?” he asked, and watched as David bit his lip in a thoughtful and pained way. “Because... Well, my left side is probably going to be too ruggedly handsome for you to handle up close.”

David's eyes went wide for just a second, and Shaun couldn't resist grinning as he gripped David's hand tightly as he opened his left eye, which he had purposefully kept close until this point just for the sake of the build up. Anger and relief warred on the younger man's face, slightly blurrier in Shaun's left eye than his right, and that was enough of a distraction for Shaun to tug David close enough for his left hand to curl into that blond hair and pull him into another kiss. 

It was only a brief press of lips this time, frustratingly chaste, because almost immediately David's hands were on his shoulders and he had pushed away. That didn't matter to Shaun though. The bewildered fury David wore as he stumbled back a step was worth every second of the ploy, fury mixed with something like relief on such a level that his heart skipped a beat. It was beautiful when contrasted to the clear anger radiating from Daniel.

“Asshole,” David snapped as he jerked his hand from Shaun's grip and stormed from the room. Tex, Shaun could see, was doing everything she could not to laugh at the whole scene as Daniel just smacked David's injured arm. 

“Shit!” Shaun barked in pain as the backhanded smack actually managed to hit him right in one of the more tender spots. “That fucking hurt, D!”

“And is nothing less than you deserve for your idiocy and insistence on cruel pranks at a moment when we were most concerned about you,” Daniel snapped before striding after David. 

“Oh come on, I thought you'd both be relieved!” Shaun shouted after them before meeting Tex's gaze and smiling at the amusement that danced in her eyes. “Well, at least someone thought it was funny.”

“Don't get me wrong, New York,” Tex laughed, and the way she defaulted to the nickname she had used for him during the first month of their 'working friendship'—she had been unceasingly amused by the fact that a New Yorker had walked into such a blatant mugging as the one she had saved him from—betrayed her own concern over him, “I didn't find that funny. In fact, that was a pretty dick move for you to pull on your best friend and the guy you're trying to nail. Which, of course, puts it right up your alley. Honestly, I'm surprised Daniel didn't see it coming.”

“Then why are you laughing?” he asked, frowning because Tex always had a reason for everything she did. 

“Because I've only known this David kid for all of thirty minutes, if that, and I can already tell him and D are going to be friends. And unlike you, I understand just what that's going to mean.”

Shaun raised an eyebrow—his right because even trying to wiggle his left stretched the skin in painful ways—and frowned, waiting for further explanation. “And just what is that?”

“Shaun, you've got a guy that knows you better than you know yourself hanging out with a guy who really would be better off avoiding the hell out of you and yet seems drawn to you. That's right up there with having someone you're dating meet your ex,” Tex observed. 

“Or showing up at your on again, off again boyfriend's place of work while his boyfriend is there?” Shaun countered with a smirk, and earned himself a glimpse of Tex's middle finger. 

“Basically you're going to have a hard time pulling your normal game on this guy if Daniel decides he actually _likes_ this poor sap you're going after,” Tex warned, still waving her finger at him. “Maybe you should rethink this whole thing before D cuts your legs out from under you.”

Shaun just smiled and allowed himself a brief chuckle. “Really, Tex, that's only something I would have to be worried about if I was thinking about my normal game.”

Tex's middle-finger salute failed as she stared at him, her mouth not quite open but the rest of her face betraying her shock. “You're not?”

“Not by a long shot,” Shaun admitted, still smiling at himself and thinking about the smell of strawberries and Irish Spring and the taste of cinnamon and the recent satiny warmth of David's lips. “Not by a very long shot.”


	8. Part Eight

“Well, fancy seeing you here this early in the morning,” Connie greeted Alex as he approached the counter, teasing clear in her voice. “What are you doing up at the crack of dawn?” 

“Mostly I'm hoping that a cup of your strongest coffee will keep me conscious for the next several hours,” Alex grumbled as he moved to lean on the counter, a hand coming up to rub at the back of his neck. 

“Early morning shoot?” Connie asked as she turned her back to him and gestured to Tucker, who sighed and started working on preparing something to drink. 

“More like I've been working all night,” Alex groaned, shaking his head. “Last minute job came up yesterday and I took it rather than...”

Alex went dead silent as David came out from the backroom looking quite attractive in the dark gray of his uniform shirt. Of course, he hardly needed to finish what he had been saying anyway. He could see the recognition on Connie's face, the pity, and the urge she had to reach out and comfort him.

“Alex!” David greeted, striding over with a wide smile that made Alex smile back for all that he felt about ready to fall over. “I didn't see you around yesterday.”

“Got called in first thing for a job,” Alex explained with a yawn. “I'd rather head back and get some sleep right now, but there's a deadline and so I need the caffeine.”

“Well, I'm sure Connie can...”

“Alex, I'm going to need you to duck here in a moment,” Connie cut into the conversation, and Alex watched in bewilderment as she whipped the hand towel off her shoulder, broke a chunk off the bagel she had been munching on, and tied the bagel into the towel. 

As Alex took a step back he glanced toward David and saw an odd look flash through his eyes, something hopeful mixed with relieved. With that he followed Connie and David's gazes and he could feel his heart stop for half a moment when he saw the pair of men just before they pushed through the door. One was a tall and lean man with long black hair and an arrangement of green dress clothing that he marked as Daniel from the descriptions that Donut had offered at the picnic on Saturday. In fact, between Donut's descriptions, the presence of Daniel, and the lines of stitches that drew attention to the left side of the second man's face, there was only one person that could be. 

“Good morning, Rebecca!” the man said as the door was flung open in front of him, and Alex actually flinched backward as a blur of brown shot past him. His eyes followed the path it would have taken, and he found the green clad man had caught the bundle Connie had made just short of the injured man's face. 

“Geez, that's no way to welcome me back,” the injured man, Shaun observed, mock hurt in his voice as he smiled at Connie, then turned his attention to David and smiled all the wider. 

It was a testament to how tired Alex was that it actually took this long for him to put two and two together and come up with Shaun being the man who had kissed David. His had also been the name that had been mentioned before David had rushed off after Tex at the picnic, and never come back. 

Did he have to be so handsome? 

“They let you out early,” David observed, crossing to Shaun and holding his hand out to Daniel for the towel and Alex watched the exchange and ignored the way that Connie's hand gently pressed against his shoulder. 

“I believe he was inflicting undue stress on the nursing staff, particularly Nurse DuFresne, and thus his early discharge was an attempt to end the situation,” Daniel offered, sounding a little annoyed. 

“Yeah, D, I guess you could look at it like that,” Shaun laughed. “Anyway, Connie, sorry I missed the picnic and everything. I was just prettying up my face and the eyebrow pencil did all sorts of horrible things when it slipped.”

“Whatever, just sit down. If my other patrons stare at you too long they might lose their appetites,” Connie returned with a cheerfulness that Alex knew from long experience was forced. In fact, from the way David flinched, he could hear it too. 

“Patrons? Looks like you've just got this one guy,” Shaun said, and before Alex could really react the brunet had crossed to him, smiled widely, and held out a hand. “Name's Shaun. You're not terribly offended by my devastatingly good looks being ruined by an eyebrow pencil, are you?”

“Tex failed to warn me about just how funny you aren't,” Alex returned as he took the other man's hand firmly in his and shook it, forcing a kind smile to his lips. 

Shaun was silent for half a moment as they shook hands, and then the disarming smile was right back in place, focused entirely on Alex. It was a nice smile, managing to draw the eye despite the wreck that was the left side of the man's face. 

“You another one of Tex's friends in the business?” Shaun asked as their hands separated, still smiling but with a harder edge to it. 

“Just a photographer friend of Connie's,” Alex answered. “Who really can't afford to linger around here very long. How's that drink coming, Connie?”

When he turned back to the counter he found the woman standing there, a pitying smile on her face, as she pushed a bag across to him. Quickly Alex peeked in—he hadn't ordered the cinnamon roll but she wasn't charging him so who was he to complain—and then picked the bag up. “I guess with this I'm good to go.”

Again his attention turned to David, whose gaze was frustratingly occupied with the injured Shaun. Really, Alex didn't want to hold that against him, especially since Shaun was clearly hurt, but he couldn't help but be the slightest bit annoyed when David noticed his glance and looked away, a blush rising to his cheeks. It looked good on him, very good, and Alex hated that he hadn't been the one to put it there. Instead it was Shaun, the man who was laughing his way over to the booth with his green clad friend, and who David was watching intently. 

Well, it looked like that conversation he had been meaning to have with David was going to have to happen sooner rather than later. It was probably the only way he'd have any chance of measuring up against the looks David kept sneaking of Shaun. 

“David,” Alex said, pitching his voice into the same soothing territory he'd used the whole time he'd spent bleaching his neighbor's hair. Almost immediately David's eyes were on him, a smile plastered on his face, and a strange firmness to the expression that made it seem a little more strained than it should have been. “Connie meant for you to take some of the leftovers home Saturday, and I was going to drop them off yesterday but I got that call and... Well, just come over after you're done with your shift and I'll help you haul them over to your place.”

“You sure I won't be interrupting you?” David asked, his face painted with genuine concern. “You look about ready to fall over. Maybe you should get some sleep.”

“I've still got a few more hours of touch up work on the raws I took for my client yesterday, so I'll be up until those are done. Don't worry. I just don't want Alexa to eat through your stuff as quickly as she is through ours,” Alex assured him, even as he hoped he'd be conscious enough to see David that long from now. 

“Alright, I'll see you then,” David promised, and smiled one last time before he made a beeline for the booth that Shaun and Daniel had no doubt settled at. 

Alex knew it was because it was David's job to deal with customers. Yet as he pushed through the door of the cafe and into the street, Alex wished he could have been the one to hold David's attention so easily.

* * * * * *

“If you suggest even one hint of what I know you are thinking,” Daniel warned, his voice dangerously low, “I will see to tormenting you in any way remotely possible.”

“I don't know what you're talking about,” Shaun insisted as he settled into his seat, thankful to be out of the hospital and back into the more familiar routines of life. Granted it was Monday and he really should be going to work today, but the doctors had warned him against anything that might strain his eyes as he adjusted to the slight blurring from his left, and that meant today was a day off whether he wanted it or not.

“You aim to continue your harassment of David today, and I do not approve.”

“Easy, D. For one thing, it's not harassment. He said I'm allowed a chance to try and win his attention. For another, aren't you supposed to be on my side?” Shaun asked, smiling widely at his friend and enjoying the fact that while Daniel was fuming at him, the other man could say nothing else because David had just arrived at the foot of their table. 

“Morning there, handsome,” Shaun greeted, turning the full force of his smile on David. “Been a long time.”

“Not long enough,” David answered, though there was none of the easy dismissal there had been during their previous encounters in the cafe. Instead there was a quieter sort of tension, as if David was waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

“You wound me,” Shaun insisted, still smiling as he stared up at David.

“Do I have something on my face?” David asked at length, looking genuinely concerned. “I asked Caboose but...”

“Ah, so Connie put you on baking duty this morning as punishment for abandoning the picnic?” Daniel asked, and Shaun couldn't help but look at his friend in confusion for the question. He hadn't known David was going to be punished for abandoning the picnic to come visit him in the hospital. How had Daniel? Was it possible that Tex had been right and D and David were bound to become friends? Well, wouldn't that be interesting?

“Yeah. He almost upended a whole bag of flour on my head,” David sighed and ran a hand through his hair, shaking it around and releasing a small shower of tan powder to make his point. “Luckily I saved the thing. Apparently he does that every time he starts working with someone new, so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. Anyway, what can I get you guys this morning?”

“The usual,” Daniel answered without hesitation. 

Shaun, on the other hand, made a show of pondering, right down to stroking his beardless chin thoughtfully, before he smirked, and met David's gaze levelly. “Blueberry scone and a hot drink with... Cinnamon and chocolate.”

To call the look on David's face merely flustered would have been an insult to the beautiful shade of red he was turning. It was almost better than it had been the first morning, because they both knew why Shaun had ordered what he had. At least, he assumed David understood why he'd ordered it. After all, he was blushing so beautifully. 

“Right... Anything else?” David mumbled so quickly the words almost started to blur together. 

“Nope. Just hurry back, okay?”

Honestly, the speed with which David turned on his heels and fled was almost amazing. 

“What was all of _that_ about,” Daniel asked, and Shaun was treated with a rare vision of his best friend's brow scrunched in genuine confusion. Nice to know he could evade D's predictions once in a while. 

“It's his usual,” Shaun observed with no small amount of personal pleasure when he glanced toward the counter and saw a look of annoyance flash over Connie's face as David delivered the order. He wasn't entirely sure just what she had... No, that was a lie. He knew _exactly_ why Connie didn't want him flirting with David. She was protective of her friend, and he liked that. That didn't change his intentions in the slightest, though. 

“How could you guess what his...” D trailed off abruptly when he realized just how Shaun could know. “The kiss.”

“The kiss,” Shaun agreed, smiling contentedly toward David. 

“If I might ask you something, Shaun?”

“The mighty Daniel is asking something of lowly little me?” Shaun teased, turning his full attention to the dark haired man across the table and smiling. 

“You mentioned that David had allowed you an opportunity to garner his attention, and you have used the chance to subtly reference your kiss? This seems like... a faulty route to his attentions.”

“Because it isn't part of the plan, D,” Shaun laughed to himself. “There's a bigger picture that even you apparently haven't noticed.”

“And that is?” 

“Just wait for him to come back. All will be revealed in time, my friend. All will be revealed in time.” 

“If I might be straight forward, Shaun?”

“As if I could stop you,” he chuckled as he returned his attention to David at the counter where he was loading a tray with their orders. 

“There is something different about your behavior here compared to your previous attempts at conquests...” Daniel said at length.

Shaun was given just enough time to chuckle and shake his head. “This isn't a conquest. It's a romancing.”

Then David was at the table and Shaun smiled up at him once more. 

“Coffee and muffin for Daniel,” David said as he moved the items to the table. The blush returned as David moved a plate with a scone and a cappuccino cup to the table. “Blueberry scone and a cinnamon mocha. Can I get you two anything else?”

“Nothing,” Daniel insisted. 

“Nothing,” Shaun agreed, and the look of shock on David's face was priceless, and quite beautiful. He just turned his attention meaningfully to the cup before him and took a delicate sip at the hot beverage. Sure enough the combination of flavors was perfect, just the right balance to be just short of how David's mouth had tasted. 

When he lowered the cup David was still there, standing at the end of the table with his tray. Shaun delicately raised his left eyebrow as much as he was willing to risk it, as he returned his attention to the attractive blond. “Is there something we can do for _you_ , David?”

“I expected you to be more forward about all of this,” David admitted, and Shaun watched him bite his lip lightly. 

“Is that what you want?” Shaun asked, smiling as he lifted the scone to his mouth and took a small bite. He immediately returned his attention to he drink and when that flavor mixed with the blueberry taste on his tongue it was just perfect. These were definitely the flavors that dominated David's mouth. 

“I'd honestly rather get this out of the way,” David answered, and there wasn't annoyance in his voice so much as hesitant concern. 

“Thursday,” Shaun answered, and enjoyed the way David's head tilted and his face was a picture of confusion. 

“Thursday?” David repeated. 

“You, me, my apartment, some of the best Chinese take-out in town and a movie,” Shaun offered, smiling up at David and enjoying the continued confusion on his face, mixed with something like pleasant shock. “I'd offer to cook, but D would be the first to tell you that I'm a fire waiting to happen.”

“You're asking me out,” David said at last, realization filling his voice and Shaun could even see the widening of Daniel's eyes. 

“Yeah, I am,” Shaun agreed. “Sometimes the best way to catch someone's attention is on a date.”

“That wasn't what I meant,” David protested. “I meant...”

“I don't get my stitches out until Wednesday, so I pretty much have until then to get you to agree to this. So why don't you save us both a lot of time and just agree,” Shaun said, smiling all the while. 

“David, I need you!” Connie cried from the counter and Shaun watched as David's attention danced from him to her and back. 

“What do you say?” Shaun asked, still grinning. 

“You're not going to let this go until I say yes, are you?” David asked, and Shaun just shook his head.

“Fine. Thursday,” David agreed before rushing off to Connie's call. 

“I cannot believe that just happened,” Daniel gaped. “That was not like you, Shaun.”

“No, it isn't,” Shaun chuckled. “But he's worth it.”

The look Daniel gave him might easily have been described as almost respectful.

* * * * * *

Alex was certain his eyelids had never felt so heavy before in his life. 

The coffee had run out hours ago, and so had the work. He'd managed to get the final touch-ups done and sent the digital proofs off to the client, and after that Alex had just been sitting at his desk, wishing he could find a way to keep himself awake. If his clock was anything to judge by then David was due back sometime soon, and he just had to make it that far, just had to survive until David showed up to knock on his door. Just had to keep his eyes open a little bit longer. 

He'd passed the time by trying to find some of the answers Connie clearly hadn't meant to give him or didn't know. A variety of web searches had done nothing to give him more of the story about Ethan and David. Unsurprisingly he found a lot of trash results, and nothing other than a graduation announcement that linked their names together. Apparently David had been co-valedictorian with one Ethan Cannon, a young looking man with dark hair and vibrant blue eyes that somehow only managed to make Alex shudder. Other than that he hadn't figured out much at all about the Ethan who had clearly broken David in some way. 

A series of knocks at the apartment door found Alex throwing himself to his feet and all but racing for the door. He even managed to make it before the knocks stopped, and threw the bolt back on the door before opening it. 

The look the delivery man had on his face at the overzealous reaction probably would have been hilarious in another situation. As it is Alex rubbed his eyes and shook his head to try and wake himself up more. 

“I've got a package here for an Alexa...”

“I'll sign for it,” Alex groaned, holding his hands out for the signature pad as the man thrust it at him. The signature looked nothing like his with how his hand was fumbling with the pen, but the man just nodded and pressed the package into Alex's hands. Then he tipped his hat and strode off, leaving Alex to look down at the packaging.

It was from the company Alexa special ordered all her hair supplies from, which meant she'd be dying her hair a new color very soon. With a sigh he set the box by the door where he knew Alexa would find it. He almost got the door closed behind him when he heard a voice call out in the hall. 

“Alex!” 

David's voice had a strange mix of excitement and annoyance to it, and Alex couldn't help but smile just from hearing it, especially when his name on those lips was punctuated by the sound of someone running down the hall. 

“Hey,” he greeted with a weak smile as David slid to a halt in front of the door. 

“Hey yourself. Man, you look like shit.”

“Strange, I feel like crap,” Alex laughed, stepping out of the doorway to welcome David in. “Give me a moment and I'll get the things Connie left for you out of the fridge.”

“No rush. Except, of course, for the fact that you look like you're about to fall over,” David said, stopping just inside the door to wait while Alex closed it. “You know, I could come back later...”

“Now works,” Alex reassured him as he started to shuffle toward the kitchen. “Like I said, you can't trust Alexa with good food for any length of time, and you missed out on the proper part of the picnic when you disappeared.”

“Yeah,” David sighed and Alex was pleased to hear the younger man following him. He managed to make it to the fridge and opened the freezer first, hoping the burst of chilly air would keep him aware a bit longer. “I really have no good excuse for that.”

“You care about your friends,” Alex answered, closing the freezer and snatching the fridge door open. It wasn't hard to see the collection of untouched tupperware in a large paper bag that dominated the bottom shelf. With a yawn Alex hauled the bag out of the fridge and turned around to put it on the counter David was leaning on. 

“I barely know him,” David admitted, which made Alex stare at him with a slight tilt of his head. 

“Then why did you...?” Alex started to ask, but as he tried to climb up on one of the stools he stumbled. 

Almost immediately David was there, one arm wrapped around Alex's waist, and another resting lightly on his shoulder. The touches were gentle and warm and somehow Alex didn't groan at the contact. 

“You should really get some sleep,” David warned him. “Come on, let me help you to your bed. Can't risk you passing out on your kitchen floor.”

“Alexa does it often enough,” Alex observed, and the faint chuckle David responded with was amazing. “But maybe you're right.”

“I know I am,” David agreed, his hand gripping Alex's wrist and with a careful twist Alex felt his arm wrap around the smaller man's shoulder. “Not getting enough sleep isn't good for you.”

Alex couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation.

“What, did I say something funny?” David demanded, though his voice was soft as he led Alex through the kitchen, his hand wrapped around Alex's wrist, and an arm lightly curled around Alex's waist. 

“No, it's... The parallel. I did the same for you on Friday night. Except you were drunk, whereas I'm only sleep deprived,” Alex laughed to himself. 

“Geez, don't remind me,” David sighed. “I'll be avoiding situations like that in the future.”

“Hey,” Alex said as they made it through the door and into his room, “you never answered my question. Or maybe I never finished asking. If you didn't know that Shaun guy, then why did you...?”

“Go running off to see him?” David asked with a sigh as he turned around so Alex could easily sit on the edge of his bed. “To be honest, I don't know why. Maybe it was something Tex said. No... it wasn't any of that.”

“He was the customer who kissed you,” Alex observed as he shifted on the bed to stretch out. He didn't bother to try and remove any of his clothing, the track pants and t-shirt were comfortable enough for sleeping in. 

“Yeah,” David agreed, sighing and Alex wished David would look at him. “That was him. He's just... I don't know how to describe him.”

“Then don't,” Alex yawned, settling into his bed and refusing to let himself reach out and pull David into his arms, as much as he wanted to do it. 

“Hey, Alex?”

“Yeah?” 

“I think you were right when we were talking on Friday,” David said at length, and Alex watched as the blond brought his legs up on to the bed and crossed them under him. 

“Which part? The you not drinking so much?” Alex chuckled. 

“The needing to do something to get my ex out of my mind,” David admitted, his voice low and practically a whisper and infinitely soothing. 

Alex wanted to say something, tell David something, make him understand that he didn't need that grinning idiot. But his eyelids were so heavy, his body so weary. 

* * * * * *

“I guess I can at least try,” David sighed, shaking his head. “What do you think, Alex?”

There was no response, and confused David looked back over his shoulder at Alex. The older man had fallen asleep, and David took a moment to just sit there and smile down at his sleeping form. It wasn't until he looked at Alex while he slept that he realized there was some sort of tension in the man when he was awake that had melted away in sleep. 

With a sigh David pushed himself to his feet and grabbed the sheet at the foot of the bed. It was nothing at all to settle it over Alex, and he smiled as he watched the man practically snuggle in against the fabric. That, he supposed, meant Alex was the cuddling type. For a moment David let himself entertain the thought of just lying down and letting Alex's arms wrap around him. Then he had moved away from the bed and slipped from the room, gently closing Alex's bedroom door behind him. 

That done he made a beeline for the kitchen and grabbed the bag to tuck under his arm, only to freeze when he noticed the notepad on the fridge. Right, best to leave a note in hopes that Alexa wouldn't be too mad at her brother when she got home. Quickly David ripped a piece of paper from the pad, grabbed the pen, and quickly wrote an explanation for the unlocked front door and missing food. That done he hunted around for some tape, and in the end gave in and just wedged the message in the frame of the door that had to lead to Alexa's bedroom. 

All of that done David let himself out of the apartment, closed the door behind him, and made his way down the hall to his own apartment. The place was quiet when he let himself in, almost eerily so. He still hadn't gotten used to the silence here, to the fact that there wasn't always music or the television or just Ethan's voice when he came home. With a sigh he brushed the thought aside and stuffed the bag in the fridge, not even bothering to search through it to see what Connie had left him. Instead he set the coffee pot up to running and made for the couch and the book he'd left on his coffee table. 

He only barely managed to sit down when he phone started ringing. He didn't even bother to think, just fished the phone out of his pocket and hit the accept button without looking. 

“Connie, I don't care _what_ red shift did to piss you off, I'm not coming back in,” he said instead of hello, because who would be calling him other than her? None of the other cafe workers had his number, he had enjoyed a long conversation with his parents the night before, and his friends would be at work right now due to the time difference. 

“I should have known you'd run to Connie.”

David went rigid, except for his left hand immediately going to his scarred shoulder. 

“I thought I told you not to call me anymore,” David hissed, trying to ignore the fact that Ethan's voice made his whole body tense up in the worst ways. 

“You just need to let me talk,” Ethan insisted, his voice pleading. 

“I suppose at least you're not charging me collect to listen to you anymore,” David continued, trying to make his voice sound like steel rather than like he was whimpering, which was closer to the truth. 

“Dammit David, why won't you talk to me?”

“Because we went beyond talking a long time ago, Ethan,” David answered, and he could hear that his voice was far too weak. “Because you stopped using words months ago. Because we're over Ethan, and the sooner you accept that the sooner we can both move on with our lives.”

“Dave...”

“I've met someone. He cares about me, which is more than I can say about you.” 

“No. Fucking hell Dave, you can't do this to me!”

“You'd be surprised what I can do,” David countered, then thumbed the disconnect. The phone started to ring again almost immediately. David hit the reject button and then did the only thing he could do to keep the phone from ringing again: he called someone else. 

“Connie's Cafe,” Donut's voice answered the cafe's landline almost immediately, his voice almost painfully cheerful. “How can we make your day the very best it can be?”

“Donut, get Connie for me.”

“Wash? Oh man, I was not expecting to hear your voice,” Donut chuckled, and there was something in his voice that said this was going to turn into an actual conversation if David didn't stop him soon. 

“Donut, get Connie _now_ ,” David insisted. “It's an emergency.”

“What kind of emergency? Are we talking medical, because you want a whole different phone number for that one. Or is it a fashion emergency, because I could totally help you with that.”

“You're... Kidding, right?” David couldn't help but ask. “Why the hell would I be calling over a fash...”

“Well, your taste is a little questionable,” Donut said in a sage tone. “You could stand for someone a bit more sensible to help you spruce up your look for a new town. In fact...”

“Connie. _Now,_ ” David snarled, and that finally seemed to be enough.

Donut sighed, and in just a few short breaths there was a new voice on the line. 

“David? Donut said it was an emergency. Are you okay?”

“No,” he heard his voice break on the word. “No, I'm not.”

“Shit, um, I give me a few minutes to wrap up what I'm working on, and I'll be there soon,” Connie assured him, concern thick in her voice. “I'll grab some food on the way there. And beers. You sound like you need beers. Or something else. Um, just how serious of a situation are we talking here, so I know what kind of booze to bring.”

“Ethan called again. Except... Connie, I think I might have fucked up. Please, I just... really need you here right now.”

“I'll skip the food. We'll order in,” Connie offered, and David felt himself nodding, for all that she'd never see it.

“But...”

“Yeah, the hardest liquor I can find,” she agreed without having to be told. “Turn off your phone. I'll be there soon.”

The line went dead and almost immediately it was ringing again. 

David did Connie one better. He removed the battery.


	9. Part Nine

The short version went like this. Connie showed up, they ate cheap delivery pizza and drank the vodka and orange juice she brought and they talked. It was calm and composed and David managed not to break down crying. In the end she left and he felt better, felt comforted, felt safe. 

The short version was, of course, a lie that David kept telling himself as he curled up on his couch and glared at the phone on the coffee table and dared it to ring without its battery. The short version was easier, simpler, safer. It didn't touch upon the way that his stomach was rolling with nausea, or how his shoulder was screaming with remembered pain, or how his leg ached or how much he hated himself right at that moment. The short version didn't even begin to account for the yelp of fear when there was a knock on his apartment door. Or the fact that David stayed there on the couch, his legs curled tightly to his chest while the lock on the door turned and he started to take stock of the apartment around him to try and figure out what he could use to defend himself. 

The short version didn't even begin to account for the heartbreak on Connie's face as she opened the door, or the clear restraint making her body tense as she slammed the door behind her, locked it, and carefully put down a large paper bag before throwing herself across the room. 

Or the way David let her gather him up into her arms as she sat beside him. 

David liked the short version better. 

“David, it's okay. It's going to be okay. I won't let anything happen to you. I promise I won't let anything happen,” Connie whispered into his ear as she held him tightly.

It was familiar, it was comforting, and part of David wanted to pull away because of just how similar it was to the old days, to when he had been happy and the only times Ethan touched him were lovingly. To when he had been the thing that made Ethan's eyes light up and Connie had laughed with them and they had all been happy and silly and flat out stupid teens just looking for something they couldn't put into words. Maybe a sense of belonging.

“Tell me what happened,” Connie whispered at last, and it was just the right thing to say, to do, to break what little restraint David had managed to cobble together. His hands fisted into the front of her shirt while Connie's fingers gently stroked his hair and he wept. 

“It's okay,” Connie soothed, her fingers running through his hair. “It's okay, Dave. I'm here. It's okay.”

He just cried until there was nothing left in him, Connie's voice a calming mantra of assurances and promises that meant the world and felt empty. Cried over Ethan, over the life he'd left behind, over all his pains, and even over how much he had hated Connie for a while because she had moved here and abandoned him. Cried until there were only dry sobs left and Connie slowly pulled away from him before curling her fingers under his chin and lifting his eyes to hers. 

“You're going to tell me _everything_ ,” she insisted, her voice quiet and patient and as perfect as a friend's could be. “No more hiding, David. I can't help you if you won't talk to me. Okay?”

All David could do was nod as he pulled away from Connie and watched her stand. 

“Can't tell you if you're leaving,” he croaked, surprised by just how raw his throat felt, but really he shouldn't have been. A quick glance at the clock above the television said he had been curled against her for almost an hour. 

“You need fluids that _aren't_ alcohol to rehydrate you before we start into the good stuff,” Connie chuckled as she moved straight for the kitchen. “But while I'm getting you that, will you at least tell me what he said to set you off like this?”

“It wasn't what he said that was the problem, Connie,” David winced, remembering his mistake as he curled up once more. “It's what I said. I... I thought he'd stopped, thought it was you calling, so I just... I answered as if you were on the line. He knows where I am, Connie. Fuck, I let him know where I am.”

She didn't respond, didn't say anything at all until she was back on the couch passing him a tall glass of water. The look on her face, though, said more than David wanted to see. She didn't know, but Connie had suspicions. There wasn't shock on her face so much as righteous fury. 

“David, it may not seem important, but I need to know exactly what you said to him,” Connie insisted as he downed almost half of the glass. 

“I... I thought it was you so I said I wasn't coming in to work if red shift was annoying you,” David sighed, drinking more of the water. “I'm so fucking boned.”

“That's all?” Connie asked, and the relief in her voice made absolutely no sense. 

“Dammit Connie this isn't some laughing matter!”

“David,” Connie chuckled, her hand coming up to brush his cheek fondly like she always did when he was being foolish, “I never _told_ Ethan where I was moving. He doesn't know where I am, so he doesn't know where you are.”

“Wait...” David stammered, staring at the woman in shock. “He...”

“Yeah, we're good for a while,” Connie assured him, pushing off the couch once again to head for the bag she had left by the door. “Now, we need to talk. You aren't the kind of guy to just panic over an ex calling. What did Ethan do to you?”

“He didn't...”

“I believe that about as much as you do,” Connie insisted as she plopped the supplies onto the table next to David's disabled phone, and she took the empty water glass from his hand. “I know you too well to fall for that line, and know Ethan well enough to be worried.” A large carton of orange juice was pulled from the bag and a splash of it went into the glass followed by vodka. 

“Connie, I don't...”

“You touch your shoulder when you think about him.”

The statement was enough to get David to move without meaning to, and the way Connie's eyes followed his hand to his shoulder made him more aware of it. 

“Show me,” Connie commanded. “Please...”

“Connie, I...”

“David, please. I need to know.”

With a sigh David grabbed the hastily mixed screwdriver, threw it back in a single gulp, then pressed the glass into her hands before grabbing his shirt and stripping it off. 

* * * * * *

“Jesus,” Connie gasped, and she couldn't help but reach out toward the wicked looking scar that dominated David's shoulder. The motion must have been too much, because David actually flinched away from her, moved back toward curling up like she had found him when she'd come into the apartment. 

“Please, don't...” David whispered, his voice weak. “I can't... It...”

“I'm going to kill him,” Connie cursed, and she could feel her teeth gritting and see the way David continued to curl in on himself. 

He hadn't been so fragile when she'd left him behind. The David she had known had been strong, confident, cheerful. How had she failed to notice how broken he was now? How was it that Alex had seen it so quickly? And here she was, trying so hard not to walk out right now, buy a ticket back to Seattle, and pound Ethan's face in. 

“He didn't mean...” David started to say, and Connie could see the moment he caught himself in his eyes, his expression hardening as he shook his head. “No, he did. I got this because I went out drinking with some of the people from work, and when I came home Ethan was there, waiting for me.”

She didn't say anything, couldn't say anything, just watched as David's eyes seemed to glaze over a bit, as he started to shake. At last she reached out and grabbed David's hand, holding it as tight as she could to try to anchor him in the here and now rather than whatever memory he was caught up in. 

“He had a knife, Connie. The one I gave him as a graduation present. I bought him that for his collection, and he had it. I... He pushed me up against the wall and put the knife to my throat,” David recited, his voice cold and distant and she wanted to haul David back into her embrace. But she had to know, Connie had to _know_. 

“He accused me of cheating on him. Of being unfaithful. Of betraying him. I was so scared. I couldn't move. There was this look in his eyes... He gets this look in his eyes, Connie. This flash of insanity before he goes from kissing to punching. I never got a handle on what was going to make it happen. It was being home late when he broke my arm. It was a bad conversation with his father when he cracked my ribs. All I could do for a while was stare at that look in his eyes while he ranted at me.”

“David,” Connie gasped, and he didn't stop. The haunted look didn't go away. Not even as she wrapped her hands around his shaking arms and pulled him toward her, stretched him out on the couch so his head was in her lap. Her fingers moved slowly through his hair, soothing as she mumbled the same wordless comfort as she had before. Still he shuddered, shook, whimpered and he spoke.

“He asked me why I kept trying him like this, why I kept making him mad. I don't know entirely what happened next. I... think he must have pushed too hard, nicked me or something. I think his eyes went wide, because he'd never made me bleed before. I must have moved. I must have done _something_ Connie, because I woke up in the hospital.”

“Oh David,” she whispered, unable to keep the pain out of her voice. “I... I never should have left you there with him.”

“Maybe I never should have stayed,” David countered, his voice weak and pained. “Maybe I should have left with you.”

“I never gave you a chance,” Connie pointed out, still playing with his short hair. “And you wouldn't have gone, would you?”

The shake of his head was minor, but she picked up on it anyway because his head was in her lap. 

“No,” he admitted.

Connie sighed and kept running her fingers through his hair, trying to calm him. She could almost feel the tension start to melt from him, but it wasn't enough. It could never be enough. Why had she left him behind? Hadn't she worried about his relationship with Ethan? 

“Connie,” David said, and she could hear the question in his voice. 

“Yeah?” she asked, glad that with the way he was lying down she couldn't see the scar. The very memory of it was an accusation. 

“He doesn't know where we are?” 

There was desperation in his voice, a need for comfort, and all Connie could do was force as much self-assurance and confidence in her voice as she could manage. 

“I'm certain,” she promised, smiling down at him for all that he couldn't see it. 

The problem was that she wasn't as sure as he needed her to be. All she could do was hope because she wasn't sure David had it in him anymore. Wasn't sure he could handle that burden.

* * * * * *

The pounding on the door was more than enough to shake Alex out of his sleep, and he couldn't help but groan. His hand fumbled for something that he was certain should have been on the bed with him but all he found was the sheet bunching under his fingers. Strange, he had been so sure there had been something, someone there with him, and all he could bring himself to do to face the lack was roll to face the wall and close his eyes once more. 

The pounding got worse for half a moment before suddenly there was silence, blessed silence. 

“Connie?” a voice asked on the edge of his awareness. 

“Where's Alex?” another voice, higher and softer and filled with desperation, demanded. 

“Wow, you really know how to make your girlfriend happy to see you.”

“Alexa,” Connie's voice growled and Alex finally rolled back toward his bedroom door and tried to clear his head because he couldn't come up with a reason for someone, for Connie, to want him. 

“Whatever. Go get him. He's sleeping or some shit.”

Alex managed to lever himself up into a sitting position before his bedroom door burst open and he was presented with the imposing duo of his sister and her girlfriend. His hands came up to his eyes to rub at them, because there was no way the two of them were looking down at him, Alexa with annoyance and Connie with fear and hatred and something else he couldn't quite place. 

“Connie?” Alex grumbled. His eyes darted to the alarm beside his bed and he wanted to groan at the time because at his best guess he'd only been out for four hours. Granted, he probably should have gotten up by now anyway, because if he slept the night through he was going to fuck his sleep schedule up royally. 

He'd meant to set an alarm. Why hadn't he...

_David._

Right. 

“Give him a moment. Alex needs time between waking and his brain booting up,” Alexa explained, but Alex watched as Connie fully entered the room, grabbed him by his wrist and started to haul on him. 

“I know you want me, but geez,” Alex chuckled, letting her pull him to his feet. 

“He's also got a shit-ass sense of humor when he's sleepy,” Alexa sighed, shaking her head and Alex just smiled at his sister. 

“It's about David. About what you told me.”

It was amazing how quickly he came awake at that. He remembered the way the scar had felt under his fingers, the way David had reacted, the way his whole reaction had screamed abuse victim. 

“You two look like you saw a ghost,” Alexa observed, and when Alex didn't say anything she turned away. “I'll make some coffee. This is going to be a long talk, isn't it?”

“Yeah,” Alex agreed, not liking the look on Connie's face as he stumbled after the women as they left his room. “Couch?”

“Works for me,” Alexa agreed and split to the kitchen as Alex trailed Connie to the couch. He flopped down easily on his normal side and quickly ruffled his hands through his hair to try and wake himself up better. 

“What's going on?” he asked at last, his attention torn between the concerned look on Connie's face and the sound of Alexa making coffee in the kitchen. 

“David called me shortly after his shift in a panic,” Connie said at length, sighing as she stared down at her hands. “Apparently Ethan called and he didn't realize it. He was freaking out because he thought he'd told Ethan that he'd moved out here.”

“Who's Ethan?” Alexa asked as a coffee mug appeared before Alex's face. He was quite happy to wrap his hands around it, and didn't answer as Alexa moved around the couch. Without being asked Connie shifted so Alexa could take up her normal spot on the couch, then cuddled back against her girlfriend, and Alex couldn't help but spare them a small smile. The way Alexa's ill tempered look always shifted to the faintest smile when she was touching Connie was practically a miracle. 

“David's ex-boyfriend, and my ex-friend,” Connie explained. “And if I ever see him again, he'll also earn the illustrious title of ex-living.”

“That bad?” Alex asked, sipping at his coffee. Except he'd already known, hadn't he? In fact, Alex was pretty certain that the only reason his hands weren't shaking was because the shakes from just waking were perfectly counteracting the shaking from what Connie was saying. 

“Wait, what's going on here?” Alexa demanded, her arms sneaking around Connie's waist, and sneaking was the right term because Alexa always seemed to do it rather surreptitiously. 

“David's ex-boyfriend abused him,” Connie said, her voice cold.

“The scar?” Alex prompted, hoping she had an answer.

“Ethan took a knife to him,” Connie explained, and Alex didn't need the coffee anymore, he was awake and his whole body was ice. “Sounds like that wasn't the only thing. Broken arm, cracked ribs, probably a lot more than that. I just don't... He was always so strong.”

“Doesn't matter,” Alexa said, her voice hard as her grip on Connie tightened. 

Alex couldn't help but look to his sister, and he could see Connie's head tip back to look up at Alexa. 

“You'd be surprised how many former abuse victims I end up training,” Alexa continued as if Alex and Connie weren't looking at her like she's sprouted another head. “Domestic abuse doesn't happen overnight. It builds up slowly, bit by bit, until the victim can do nothing but blame themselves. Until they think they deserve it. The fact that your friend managed to break out of that cycle is pretty impressive if you ask me.”

“Yeah, well, if you call him being passed out on his couch drunk 'free' then I've got a bone to pick with your vocabulary,” Connie sighed, finally leaning back all the way and resting her head against Alexa's chest. “He's... not doing well. I'm really worried about him and if I didn't need to be in to work first thing, I'd probably stay with him overnight and look out for him as best I could. As it is...”

“That's why you woke me,” Alex observed as he set his mug aside. “It wasn't just to tell me what you'd learned.”

“Someone needs to be there when he wakes,” Connie agreed. “For one thing he needs to know he's working red tomorrow. I'll put Donut on his morning shift, because he's going to have the worst kind of headache when he wakes, if he wants to come in at all. But mostly...”

“Of course,” Alex said, pushing himself to his feet. “Anything you need.”

“Alex...” Alexa warned, her voice low and concerned. “You need to realize something here. _Both_ of you need to realize something. These things don't always end well. Sometimes the people who do these kinds of things, they don't stop. He could very well try to track David down, and if he's willing to hurt someone he thinks he loves, he wouldn't hesitate to hurt you too.”

“I may not be as good as you, little sister, but I didn't take those fighting classes from you for nothing. I can take care of myself,” Alex insisted. “And I can't just do nothing.”

The sigh Alexa gave him was the same sad one she used whenever she disapproved of some decision he had made but wasn't willing to get in his way. 

There was a part of him that wished he would listen to her, just once.

* * * * * *

His first clue was that something strange was happening was the hand in his hair that was a little bigger, a little rougher than Connie's. The fingers were strong as they swept through his hair, brushed it aside, tugged gently enough to make his body shudder and find him moaning softly. It wasn't like Connie, which was why he stayed still as the finger ran along the shell of his ear, brushed lightly along his jaw, and ultimately hooked curved under his chin. 

David's eyelids fluttered open as the strange hand guided his head, and he had just a moment to meet Alex's crystal blue gaze before his eyes closed again from the intensity of the kiss that tasted like coffee.

“David,” Alex whispered when he pulled back, and David actually groaned at the sound of his name from those beautiful lips. 

“David,” Alex repeated as David opened his eyes and the smile Alex wore was more seductive than David would have ever thought possible. 

“David,” Alex said a third time, a throaty chuckle punctuating the repetition of his name as the smell of coffee dominated David's senses and David cracked his already eyes open and groaned again, this time in disbelief. 

“What _the fuck_ are you doing in my apartment?” David demanded, ignoring how hoarse he sounded as he reached behind his head, grabbed the spare pillow, and flung it at Alex. 

The other man caught it easily, that beautiful deep chuckle bubbling up again as David watched him drop the pillow and raise his hands before him defensively.

“Let's not get violent here. Wouldn't want to accidentally knock the coffee mug over, would you?”

David pushed himself into a sitting position with a groan and let his eyes follow Alex's pointed stare at the nightstand, where there was indeed a steaming mug of coffee, a tall glass of water, and a bottle of aspirin. 

“Who let you in?” David asked as he fumbled for the aspirin bottle, suddenly aware of the throbbing in his head. “Because I'm pretty certain Connie was the one I was drunk with this time.”

“True enough,” Alex laughed, and even though it hurt David enjoyed hearing it almost as much as he had enjoyed it in his dream. “She was worried about you, but had to leave for work this morning. She stopped by and asked me if I'd be willing to check in on you. I, of course, said yes, because I'm just that nice.”

“Yeah,” David agreed, still fighting with the bottle, only to have Alex take it from him and open it without any trouble, shake out a pair of pills, and pass them over to him. For what it was worth, David didn't blush when the fingers he had so recently been dreaming of in his hair brushed against his palm. Really, he was pretty sure he deserved points for that. 

“You're working red shift today,” Alex continued, retreating to the door of the bedroom. “Donut's covering your shift, so you might owe him a favor. I'm honestly not sure how to deal with that. I hear the best way to dodge around it is to agree to an afternoon of shopping and then have someone call you in the middle of it. At least, that's what Simmons apparently does.”

“I don't...” David winced as a particularly bad ache hit his head, and immediately returned his attention to throwing the pills down his throat and chasing them with water. 

“Well, take as much time as you need. I brought some things over from my apartment and I'm making omelets if you're interested. I prefer to make them Colorado style, but I'm flexible if your interests run in another direction,” Alex offered, smiling down at David. 

“Sounds... good?” David asked, staring up at Alex in confusion. 

“Well, it will take a little bit, so feel free to grab a shower or something while I'm cooking,” Alex insisted, before disappearing from the door. All David could do for a long minute was stare. 

Stare and remember falling asleep on the couch with Connie watching over him, and wonder just how he'd gotten to the bed and why he was certain he knew what Alex's fingers would feel like brushing around the shell of his ear. 

With a sigh David reached for the coffee and tried not to freak out when he tasted it and found it seasoned perfectly. Two sugars, no cream, and a sprinkle of cinnamon. He took another long sip before levering himself to his feet and shuffling out into the apartment proper, mug in hand. Only when he reached the kitchen and leaned his elbows against the breakfast bar did he realize that he wasn't wearing a shirt. Almost immediately David put down his cup and started to back away. 

“Don't worry,” Alex's voice came as he came out of the fridge with a large paper bag. “I've already seen it.”

“You...” David froze, hand clenching tightly at the edge of the counter. 

Alex sighed as he put the supplies down by the stove and came back to face David. “You were really drunk on Friday, and I know how bad it can be to fall asleep in your clothes. I tried to...” As David watched Alex's hand came up to run through his hair. “I tried to help you undress, get you into bed, and you didn't take my noticing the scar very well.”

“I can imagine,” David mumbled, unable to do much more than think about how he had reacted when Connie had seen it.

“I'm not going to ask about it,” Alex said, turning his back to David pulling a carton of eggs from his bag. 

“Really? You seriously find a guy with a scar like that who freaks out and you're not even curious?” 

“I didn't say that,” Alex laughed as he fetched a bowl from the cabinet and opened the carton of eggs. “I said I'm not going to ask. There's a pretty serious difference between curiosity and prying, and the latter is something I'm not going to do.” 

“May make you better than Connie,” David sighed, sipping at his coffee again and damn it was good. “She tell you how to fix up my coffee?”

“Yeah, she said you have a thing for cinnamon,” Alex chuckled, shaking his head as he cracked eggs into a bowl and started to whisk them together with a fork. 

“Always have,” David agreed, and he couldn't help but think about Shaun sipping at the cinnamon mocha and smiling up at him in a self-satisfied way. He wanted to taste those lips again, almost as much as he wanted to taste Alex's for a first time. 

He contented himself with the coffee. 

“You any good of a cook?” David asked as he watched Alex pull a pair of green peppers from his bag. 

“My dad was a chef for a while,” Alex admitted, pulling a cutting board from behind a canister that David was eventually going to fill with flour or something, once he was ready to actually cook again. He selected a knife from the block and carried the whole mess over to David, plopping them down in front of him. “If you're not going to shower, make yourself useful. I'm going to assume you've got all these wonderful bits and pieces for your kitchen because you can at the very least chop. Dice that for me would you?”

David couldn't resist a little chuckle at the smile Alex gave him as he picked up the knife and twirled it confidently between his fingers. “I may not be a chef, but there are tricks you pick up when you live most of your life in restaurants,” David admitted. “How finely?”

“Not too much. Half of it is going into the eggs, the other half into the filling. If you prove yourself with that I'll even let you cut up the sausage and ham when I'm done cooking them,” Alex said, his voice betraying clear approval of David's knife skills. 

“I'm sure I'll wow you,” David assured him, immediately stopping the knife in his fingers and turning his gaze to the peppers. “You were saying something about your dad?”

“Yeah, he was a short order cook with aspirations on something bigger,” Alex said, returning to the far counter and pulling packages of meat from the bag. “At home he tried cooking all manner of awesome things, and when I asked if I could help, he was more than eager to teach me. I never had quite his passion, but it's always been something I've loved. There's something... I don't know, let's say beautiful, about being able to create complex meals from simple ingredients for the people important to you.”

With that Alex started digging through the cabinets again, then looked back over his shoulder and frowned up at David. “Do you have any pans suitable for cooking this stuff?”

“I keep the bigger pans under the stove. I'm not big on baking,” David provided, and was treated to a good view of Alex's ass as he squatted down to pull the drawer open and haul out David's largest frying pan. 

“Me neither,” Alex admitted, placing the pan on the stove. “Never appealed to me. Alexa tried her hand at it, but she's got the cooking skill of a bull in a china shop.”

“You cook for her often?” David asked, returning his attention to the peppers and chopped off their tops. A few careful cuts had the core loosened and David set the knife aside and quickly cleaned out the peppers seeds before starting into the chopping. 

“I said I like to cook for people important to me and forgot the qualifier of 'and who appreciate it,'” Alex laughed, testing the heat of the pan by letting his hand hover over it. Apparently satisfied he cut open the bacon package and started placing slices in the pan. “Alexa pretty much just eats whatever is put in front of her and doesn't stop to think about it.”

“So what you're saying is that I'm going to have to praise you profusely over this meal,” David chuckled as he finished working his way through the first pepper. 

“That would be nice,” Alex admitted as David watched him dance back a step to avoid bits of grease flying out of the pan. “Ouch. You better appreciate it. Ow.”

“I would think the kid of a short order cook would be used to little tiny grease burns.”

“Used to and comfortable with are two vastly different things.”

They were quiet for a while, and David couldn't help but smile fondly at Alex while he back was turned. He couldn't even begin to imagine how nice it would be to have something like this in his life, something he'd never had with Ethan. A lover who would wake him in the morning with well cooked food, or who would merely cook with him, bantering all the while. Someone who seemed as eager to take care of him as he had always had been to care for Ethan. Someone who would laugh easily and frequently, and tease him over something as simple as dicing a green pepper. 

Alex took a moment to take down a plate and, finished with the peppers, David just smiled at the man in his kitchen as he fished the strips of bacon out of the pan one at a time. No sooner were they out than fat slices of ham from a tupperware went into the grease and Alex turned just briefly to smile at him. 

“Looks good,” Alex commented on the pile of peppers, gesturing with his fork. “Maybe I can trust you with the meat.”

“Like I said, you pick things up in the restaurant industry,” David smiled at Alex. 

“What did you do?” Alex asked, returning his attention to the pan while he added a few sausages. 

“Host, the primary at a very in demand five star restaurant. One of the chefs had a bit of a crush on me, I think, because he'd take the chance to teach me things whenever he could,” David admitted, twitching the knife resting on the cutting board into a straighter line.

“Nothing like dating someone who can cook,” Alex agreed. “Still, I suppose waiting tables at Connie's is a bit of a step down for you.”

“Multiple steps, but it's what I needed,” David admitted. “It's nice to be in a situation where I'm not accidentally going to alienate some hotshot exec by not seating her fast enough.”

Alex froze, just for half a moment, and David wouldn't have noticed it if it hadn't been for him cursing and quickly moving to flip the slices of ham. “Sounds like there's a story behind that.”

“Maybe, but it's going to take a lot more than an omelet to get it out of me.”

“And just what does an omelet get me?” Alex asked, curiosity plain in his voice. 

David sipped at his coffee, thought about the long list of things he could offer but wouldn't. The chances of Alex taking those kinds of offers poorly were just too high. No, he wanted this too much. This easy moment with Alex cooking for him in his kitchen, smiling and teasing and looking so perfect with David's gray half-apron wrapped around his hips, this was just what he wanted in life. No, he wanted more, he knew that. He wanted to be able to come up behind Alex, wrap his arms around the other man's waist, and rest his forehead against Alex's back. 

Instead of any of that David sipped his coffee one more time, enjoyed the taste of the cinnamon, and thought. 

“I wanted to make a pot roast sometime this week. Sort of a house warming meal. I've been subsisting on take out and microwaveable meals since I moved in. But I'm not so big on making something quite like that with no one to share it with. Too much food for one guy. I'm going to invite Connie of course, she'd hate me if I didn't, but I suppose I could trade a meal for a meal.”

Alex glanced back over his shoulder and the smile on his lips made David's legs want to melt away right then and there. 

“I'd like that, provided you aren't going to twist my wrist and make me drag Alexa along.”

“Yeah, I think I'll skip that,” David chuckled, and he enjoyed the silence as Alex returned to cooking. 

He'd give anything for moments like this.

Instead he resolved to steal them whenever he could.


	10. Part Ten

“Well hi there, Wash. Oh, and you brought Alex with you... Interesting, very interesting,” Donut crooned as David pushed through the cafe doors. All he could do was sigh and flip the cheerful man off, earning him an 'oooh girl' from Caboose who was busily restocking the pastry case.

“Woah, no need to get into a fight ladies, I'm just his ride.,” Alex chuckled, raising his hands defensively before him.

“And just why did he _need_ a ride?” Donut immediately questioned, and David sighed as he started for the back room. He was more in the mood to get ready for his shift before the other red shift employees showed up than he was for banter. The reds were frequently noisy when they came in to get ready for work, and honestly David wanted to be in and out of the back room before they showed. 

“We're neighbors, Donut, nothing more,” Alex explained while David opened his locker, and his hand froze on the catch.

Nothing more. That... hurt in a way that David didn't want to think about. He pulled his coat off and stuffed it in the locker along with his personal effects like wallet and keys and quickly moved to grab an apron. It was easier than thinking about how nice it had been to sit in his apartment and watch Alex as the older man cooked for him. Of course he could just as easily get caught up in thinking about how they had sat together on his couch, plates in their laps, coffee mugs and feet on the coffee table, and joked around while they had eaten. 

“Oh. I still don't get why he needed a ride...”

Nothing more. 

David tied the apron in place, typed his information into the small computer set up for clocking them in, and composed himself before heading back into the store proper. 

“Clocking in, Connie,” David announced, readjusting the ties on his apron as he strode over to the display case.

“Awesome,” Connie called from the row of coffee machines, her attention clearly on setting them up to run new batches. “Donut, you're free to go. And please don't harass Alex too much.”

Donut scoffed as he slipped past David and made for the back room, and something told David that he wasn't anywhere near done seeing Donut for the day. 

“You're a bit early,” Connie observed as she approached to hug him. “Feeling better today?”

“Nothing a lot of alcohol, some sleep, and a damn good meal couldn't cure,” David agreed. “Thanks for last night. And... Well...”

“Will you just thank her for the sex already and get a move on?” Tucker demanded and all David could do was turn toward the other man and stare at him, eyes wide. 

“Wait, what?”

“Eww,” Connie added and shuddered as if to reinforce the point. “Tucker, why don't you just focus on your station until Grif and Sarge get here? And David, I'd love to chitchat more, but you do have a customer to deal with, so...”

David frowned and followed Connie's dismissive gesture and found himself staring at Alex and Donut, sitting together at one of the booths near the door. Right. He'd somehow managed to forget about that. With a sigh David snatched an order pad from under the counter and made his way over to the booth just in time to hear the last thing he wanted to from Donut's mouth—okay maybe not last because there were probably a lot of things in the world he didn't want to hear in general—bursting right out for all the world to hear and judge.

Worse. For Alex to hear and judge.

“Let's see, what else have I missed? Oh! Our new worker, I guess you'd know him as your new neighbor, is going on a date with one of our regulars. His name is Shaun. Your visits here don't overlap with his, but he was the one who was supposed to be at the picnic this past weekend but he got hurt and ended up in the hospital. I think that was why Wash disappeared so suddenly. Clearly it's a match made in...”

David slammed the order pad down on the table and glared at Donut. 

“I can't even begin to see how _any_ of this is your business, much less his,” David growled, and for a moment he was pleased to see the way Donut flinched away from him. That didn't call any of the words back, though. Didn't take away the expression Alex was wearing that David couldn't read beyond a general status of 'pensive.' 

“Oh, well Shaun was asking after you this morning when I served him and Daniel their breakfasts. He was really concerned when you weren't here. I've got to say, he's going to have some pretty impressive scars,” Donut breezed and David wasn't sure which part to process first: Donut talking to Shaun, or the fact that Shaun had been worried over his lack of presence. 

Strange how David hadn't even remotely contemplated that possibility when he'd been sitting in his kitchen eating omelets with Alex and laughing together over the assurance that he really didn't have to give Alexa money for the bleaching. 

“It's a pity date,” David pleaded but the could see the doubt on Donut and—more importantly—Alex's faces. 

“A pity you hadn't been here to date him earlier,” Donut teased and David just rolled his eyes because that was easier than trying to make him understand.

Especially when he didn't believe it himself. He knew why he was doing it, and from the flash in Alex's eyes, the older man had a suspicion as well. 

“Need anything to drink?” David asked, turning his attention fully toward Alex. 

“I don't suppose I could get a coffee with some cinnamon sprinkled on top,” Alex asked, smiling softly and David resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He really shouldn't have let Alex have a sip of his coffee earlier. Now he had two extremely hot guys he was going to run into on a daily basis that he wouldn't be able to help but imagine kissing with the taste of cinnamon on their lips. 

“Wow, that sounds pretty strange,” Donut observed before smiling up at David. “I'll have...”

“You can get your own order, Donut,” David sighed, running his fingers through his hair as Alex smiled softly at him in that warm way that made him shiver.

“It's actually quite good. A friend of mine turned me on to the flavor combination recently,” Alex told Donut before returning his attention to David with a faint smirk. “Add in a pecan roll if you would.”

He wanted to point out that there was no way Alex should have room for more food considering how large the omelets had been, but the last thing he wanted to do was give Donut more ammunition. 

“Alright!” Tucker cheered just before the chime of the door cut through the air and a low bickering that could only be the arrival of Simmons and Grif tore through the cafe. 

“Leave it until you're off shift,” Connie called as she did every morning, and David could hear the sigh of relief from Tucker at the glimpse of freedom he was being offered. 

“Donut,” Simmons asked as the argument stopped on their way to the back room, “what are you doing out here?”

“Oh, I covered for Wash this morning. He was spending time with his neighbor.”

There was a part of David that really did wish that looks could kill. 

* * * * * *

David was fuming, and while Alex knew he should have felt bad for the guy, he was actually kind of cute when he did that. He didn't let himself smile at David because he honestly didn't want the other man to think he was amused by the situation. Not that David was paying any attention to him anymore. The arrival of red shift had distracted the blond long enough to have him ultimately walk away from the table to deal with the order. That moment of respite given Alex turned his attention back to Donut and gave his best friendly smile. 

“So, tell me about this Shaun,” Alex asked, trying to sound more unconcerned than he really felt. 

“Oh?” Donut asked, his lips curving into a pleased smirk. “And just why are you interested in that? Could it be you're interested in...”

“Finish that sentence or ever suggest such a thing to him, and I'll tell Alexa who it was that accidentally scratched her car at the picnic last year,” Alex cut him off, forcing steel into his voice, and resisting the urge to smile viciously as Donut actually started to quiver in fear before him. 

There were truly advantages to being Alexa's twin. Using her as a threat to buy silence was definitely one of the sweeter ones. 

“So, um, Shaun is this regular that has been with us for years. He's a professional locksmith who sometimes works with Tex for some reason. Which is why he got hurt, btw. Um, he's a pretty nice guy. Connie doesn't like him because he's sort of a player, if you catch my drift. But I don't know, he seems to be pretty serious about Wash. I mean, he left him his number on the first day, and kissed him on the second day and well, I'd put my money on those two getting seriously involved in the future,” Donut provided, and the whole time Alex was silent, nodding attentively. 

“So are you...” 

“Seriously, are you really looking to piss Alexa off?” 

Donut sighed and shook his head, going quiet just in time for David to return with Alex's order. 

“Okay,” David smiled as he moved the coffee and pecan roll to the table in front of Alex, “you've got to explain just how you got Donut to shut up. That's going to be a good talent to have in the future.”

Alex smiled softly at Donut, whose eyes were flashing speculatively back and forth between them. “The secret is having a scary sister.”

“Oh... Yeah, I kind of get that,” David sighed. “Donut, Grif and Simmons are looking for you.”

“Really? Oh wow,” Donut cheered, sliding easily out of the booth and rushing for the back room. 

“They don't actually want him, do they?” Alex chuckled before sipping at his coffee.

“Nope,” David smirked right back. “You looked like you might need a breather. He'll probably be back later anyway. I... Also wanted to say thanks for this morning. Don't worry about paying your check, I'll cover it.”

“You really don't have to do that,” Alex observed, setting the mug aside. 

“I'm pretty sure you spent more on breakfast than this costs,” David sighed, a hand going up to push through his hair. Alex wished briefly that he could be that hand, and then smiled easily up at his neighbor. 

“It was just stuff I had in the fridge,” Alex insisted.

“Maybe the ham, but the bacon package was unopened, the egg carton was full, and no one keeps bell peppers in their fridge just in case,” David argued. “And the grocery store logo was still on the bag.”

“Ah,” Alex chuckled, shaking his head. “Yeah. That. Not going to make you believe it was a coincidence, am I?”

“Not a chance,” David smiled softly. “So I just want to say thanks. For being such a good friend.”

Alex forced the smile to his lips as he thought about how nice it had been to spend the morning with David, to cook for him, to watch him get this little smile on his lips as he ate or sipped at his cinnamon rich coffee. But Connie was right, David didn't need that right now, not from him. Probably not even from this Shaun character, but there was nothing he could do about that but smile and be a supportive friend. 

A chime made David turn away, but Alex didn't have to look at the door given his clear view of the counter to know who it was. The way Connie was holding herself, tense and ready with a hand towel told him everything he needed to know. It even gave Alex a chance to brace himself for the shout that might have scared someone else. 

“Good afternoon, Rebecca!”

David groaned and Alex shook his head as he returned to his coffee. “Looks like I'm going to be losing your company to him.”

It was amazing, the fact that he managed to keep the bitter edge out of his voice. Still, the words were enough to make David look back at him and smile somewhat sadly. 

“It's the job,” David answered with a sigh and an amused light in his eyes. Alex forced the smile to stay in place as he watched the fragile younger man stride away from him. 

Watch and pray that this Shaun didn't break him further. 

If he did, Alex was going to figure out just how much damage Alexa could inflict on someone before they started pleading for mercy. It would be fun. 

* * * * * *

“I thought you only came in mornings and evenings,” David 'greeted' Shaun as he got settled into his both and tried not to think about the lack of Daniel on the other side. Still, he smiled up at David as widely as he could without tugging his wounds too much, and gave a little wave. 

“Yeah, well, normally I work through the day,” Shaun admitted with a shrug. “The problem is the docs don't want me doing anything strenuous so...”

“So you're dodging work for no good reason,” David observed with a sigh and Shaun put on his best feigned hurt expression. 

“Says the guy who didn't show up for work this morning.”

“Keep talking like that and I might think the player I keep hearing about is just a poor desperate fool in truth,” David warned, a slight smirk curving his lips. 

“Wow, look at all the credit I don't get,” Shaun sighed, but kept his smirk in place. “Seriously, I was worried about you this morning. No one seemed to know where you were, and Donut had all sorts of ideas of things that might have happened.”

The way David looked at him, with a strange mixture of amusement and annoyance, told Shaun that he didn't believe it at all. Honestly Shaun was pretty sure that he'd think the same thing in David's place. Hell, if Daniel were here his friend might have been giving him strange looks. But he had been worried first thing that morning, when he'd come in and it had been Donut who had greeted them instead of David. He hadn't been able to explain it in the slightest so he'd tried to keep it to himself, but he had felt uncomfortable with the other man's absence. 

“What can I get you, Shaun?”

“You still haven't given me your number, but I suppose that's over shooting until I wow you on Thursday. Make that cinnamon mocha and a...”

“Blueberry scone,” David finished for him, blushing hard. “You know, I get the message. You can order something else.”

“Maybe it isn't a message anymore,” Shaun smiled widely. “Maybe I just like the flavor combination.”

“You're an ass.”

“Who you've agreed to go on a date with, so what does that say about you?” 

“I've always lacked taste when it came to men,” David countered easily, a slight bitter edge to his voice as he turned and strode off to fill the order. 

Just what the hell was that supposed to mean? Shaun sighed and frowned down at the table, desperately wishing he'd managed to drag Daniel along. But no, D had waved him off, insisting that he had to get the checks cut for supplies by the end of the business day, leaving Shaun bored and listless and ultimately dragging himself here, seeking something he couldn't explain. Something that he'd found immediately when he'd seen David just inside the cafe doors, chatting with the tall blonde Shaun had been introduced to the day before. 

There was something boring about being in a cafe alone, Shaun finally decided as he stared down at the table and waited for David to return, listening to the chime of the door opening and closing, the hiss of the espresso machine, the quiet and steadily growing murmur of noise that was the other customers. He'd never been much of one for people watching—except when he was actively trying to find someone to get to see a bit more up close and personal—he didn't like to eavesdrop on people's lives, and frankly while he was a fiend for coffee there was such a thing as the scent of too much caffeine in the air. This place practically dripped with that scent, for all that he had barely noticed it before today. 

The door chimed open, chimed closed. Chimed open, chimed closed, and David appeared at the end of his table with a haggard look and his order. 

“I'd love to stay and chat, really I would, but it seems someone forgot to mention that there was a play on campus today and...” David trailed off with a sigh as he moved Shaun's order to the table. “Wave me over when you're ready to pay, okay?” 

Shaun didn't even have a chance to thank him before David was gone, swallowed up by the growing number of customers that Shaun had only just started to realize were present. As he cast his gaze about he saw that practically the entire cafe had changed while he was trying to deal with the lack of Daniel. The blue shift had disappeared completely from behind the counter, leaving Grif and Sarge frantically working while Simmons, no doubt, was in the back and Connie was wherever she disappeared to when red shift came on to work. David, though, was flowing around the cafe with surprising grace and coordination, taking and reciting back orders with minimal notes on his pad. It was amazing to watch him work, always smiling, always moving, and when he carried a full tray of orders he didn't seem to spill a single drop of any of the nearly overfilled drinks. 

No wonder Connie though so highly of him. The way David moved was beautiful and oh so very tempting.

“We need to talk.”

The declaration is so sudden that Shaun actually jumped as he turned his attention to the towering blond that stood by his table, coffee mug in hand. He'd had his gaze so riveted on David—his mind partially preoccupied in a fantasy of bending David over one of the tables and drawing everyone's eyes to them—that he hadn't noticed the arrival of the other man, Alex. 

“And here I didn't wear my serious conversation pants,” Shaun couldn't resist saying, and Alex just raised a questioning eyebrow. 

“So you're the kind of guy who requires his pants to do the thinking for him? Honestly, I'm not surprised,” Alex observed, his voice oddly dry for the soft smile on his lips; and damn they were lovely lips too, what was with all these hot people at Connie's these days.

“Just what is that supposed to mean?” Shaun asked, letting his voice drop into a lower, colder area that he only reserved for people he didn't like—which were few and far between—such as the man Tex sometimes worked with who went by 'Wyoming.' 

“It means from what I've heard, you tend to think a bit... below the belt,” Alex continued, still smiling warmly and damn that was pretty when mixed with the flatness to his voice. 

“From what you've heard, you clearly don't like me,” Shaun observed, breaking off the conversation to smile up at David when he walked by and frowned down at the pair of them before whisking himself off toward the counter. 

“No, I honestly don't,” Alex admitted, and Shaun couldn't help but nod respectfully to the man.

“At least you're willing to come out and say it. Bravo. So, what's the beef?” Shaun demanded, lifting his drink to his lips and savoring the better part of the flavor of David's mouth. Damn he could get addicted to this mixture of chocolate and cinnamon.

“I think you should... be a bit more cautious with David,” Alex said after a bit, sipping at the mug in his hands. Was it just Shaun, or was there the scent of cinnamon coming from that? Interesting...

“And your right to say that to me comes from...?” Shaun prompted, smiling widely at Alex. 

“He's a friend,” Alex said, a firmness to his voice that made Shaun smile. Well, that was good to know. He hated those rare times when he was accidentally the other man. Hell, he hated the times when he was the other man on purpose. Especially when the first man was someone who looked like Alex. Not that he was scared of the blond just because he was bigger. No, there was something in the way he held himself that worried York. 

“Well, I can assure you that as his friend, my intentions aren't really the slightest bit of your business,” Shaun answered, sipping his drink again and rolling the flavors on his tongue. 

It was a stalling tactic and he knew it. The fact of the matter was that even _he_ wasn't sure of what his intentions on David were just yet. There was something about him that just... threw a lot of his habits right through the window. 

“I'm concerned because he just came out of a bad relationship and I would hate to see him hurt by someone just out to get their kicks with the new guy,” Alex sighed, shaking his head. 

Well, it was nice to see that people were at least concerned for David. That he had friends, for all that he was new in town. Shaun couldn't begin to imagine how he would have handled the move to this poor excuse for a city without Daniel. 

“I can assure you, Alex, that while my reputation may not agree, I don't leave the people I'm with behind me in pieces,” Shaun sighed. “I've never...”

“I don't care what you have and haven't done, or what you claim,” Alex cut him off, voice hard. “All I know is that if you hurt him, I will see to it that you don't get the chance to bother him again.”

“Is that... a threat?” 

“No,” Alex chuckled as he slid from the booth and stood, leaving his mug behind. “It's a promise.”

There was a quiet kind of intensity to the statement that halted Shaun with the scone halfway to his mouth. A kind of intensity that made Shaun believe Alex's words as surely as if they had been delivered by Tex herself. So he was left to sit there and stare after Alex as the man walked away as if nothing had happened. The door chimed open, chimed closed, and Shaun smirked to himself as he put his scone down. 

“Shaun?” David asked, pausing at the end of his table with a laden tray. “You okay?”

“I'm fine. Perfectly fine,” he breezed, smiling wider. 

Poor Alex. Didn't even seem to realize that he'd only managed to make David that much more interesting.


	11. Part Eleven

There were moments in his life when Alex really did hate his sister. There was the time when they were ten and she broke the camera their father had given him on their birthday. Then there was the whole semester in high school where Alexa had been praised as an artist when she'd started bringing in prints of his photographs to school for assignments in her art classes. It had been impossible to try and make everyone understand that it was his work, he'd just been seen as a jealous older brother, so he'd dropped it and started to hide his stuff from her better. There was even something that could have been said for Alexa's timely arrival on the day David had moved in upsetting him a bit. 

None of that quite compared to just how he felt about his sister while he stood outside of David's apartment—really it was starting to get ridiculous how nervous he found himself whenever he stood here—a bottle of red wine cradled in his hand as he tried to prepare to knock on the door. 

Only Alexa would decide that the best thing for him right now would be some time spent alone with David. Only Alexa would manage to talk Connie into agreeing. Only Alexa would leave a note and a bottle of wine on their dining room table while he was out in the park for an afternoon of personal photography. Only Alexa would decide to kidnap Connie for a romantic evening all their own, and leave Alex with the implication that he just needed to 'hit that.' 

Only Alexa really tried to get him to take the steps he never really wanted to take. 

Alex took the chance to smooth his hair, straighten his shirt, and actually pretend he could breathe normally before he knocked on the door. Of course he almost immediately caught himself holding his breath, and rolled his eyes. It was just a meal. Nothing complex, nothing painful, nothing even important. Just a meal shared with a friend to repay him for a kindness he had...

Yeah, he wasn't falling for that line of reasoning, was he? 

The door opened—he hadn't known it not to yet—and between the savory smell in the air and the smile David offered him, it was almost perfect. 

“Right on time. Which isn't something I can say of Connie,” David greeted him, standing aside almost instantly to offer Alex space to join him. “I just got a call from her. She's decided to 'gracefully duck out' of my offer. I'm...”

“Don't kill her,” Alex immediately cut off, walking by David and smiling before he held out the bottle. “I suppose we'll have to enjoy this without her.”

“Oh... Lambrusco,” David cooed—did he actually just do that, dear god that was cute—as he closed the door and then swept the bottle of wine from Alex's grip. His hands were warm, Alex couldn't help but notice that from the brief contact. “This will go perfectly with the roast. Which Connie isn't even getting a taste of the leftovers of. Traitor.”

Alex wanted to laugh, wanted to chuckle, wanted to continue the light atmosphere that David had greeted him with. Instead as he watched David start off toward the kitchen he found his voice catch just a bit as he asked, “Is a night with me that much of a let down?”

There was silence between them for a moment when David turned to look at him, some unreadable expression lingering on his face. Then it was gone, replaced by a wide smile a bit too much like one of those that Shaun guy used, but it was genuine so far as Alex could tell. 

“No. It's nice. Now, are you going to stand there like a fumbling guest who's never visited me before, or are you going to act like the man who made me breakfast yesterday and pretend you're comfortable here?”

“Comfortable. That option sounds like a lot more fun,” Alex chuckled, toeing off his shoes by the door and shuffling after David toward the kitchen. 

The closer he got the more intense the aroma grew, and Alex couldn't help but pause just beside the breakfast bar to take a deep breath of the wonderful smells. “You weren't kidding about picking up a think or two about cooking.”

“It's a hobby,” David insisted as he opened a crock pot on his counter and smiled down at its contents. “Never really took the time to seriously try my hand at it.”

“Well, if this is what you create without trying _too_ hard, then I'm sure you could be quite the chef if you tried,” Alex chuckled as he reached David's side. “You know, as much as I'd love to talk, that scent is going to drive me mad. So why don't you put me out of my misery and tell me just how long I'm going to have to yearn for this delicious scent before I get to try some?”

“Actually, I tried to time this so it would be ready when people showed up, and since you're the only people I'm expecting...” 

“I'm sure I can be company enough,” Alex laughed. “Point me at your wine glasses and I'll set the table if you want.”

“What, no dinner on the couch?” David teased. “We're actually going to class this up a bit?”

“Well, I brought wine. I think that necessitates a table. Sort of a class factor,” Alex chuckled. “If you can't meet me with at least that much class, well I'm going to have to take my wine and leave.”

“Don't do that,” David laughed, before pointing at the high cabinet over the fridge. “I didn't expect to need them any time soon so...”

“Not a problem,” Alex assured him. “That's where I keep the harder liquors myself. It doesn't stop Alexa when she's starting out for the night, but it does slow her down if she's already been drinking.”

It was no effort at all for Alex to get the glasses down and carry them into the dining room with the bottle of wine. At David's direction he also moved out plates, utensils, water cups—with David insisting that he wasn't doing the drunk thing tonight—and even some serving utensils. When David was ready he even offered to move the roast to a serving platter and carry it to the table while David handled the few side dishes he'd prepared. 

And when they sat down together, smiling thankfully over their meals across a relatively small table together, sipping at a sweet red wine and talking easily about the finer points of cooking a roast, it hit Alex that this had been exactly what his sister had wanted. 

Him, alone with David, for what was turning into a quiet and intimate little meal.

Only Alexa could find a way to set them up on a date that wasn't actually a date.

* * * * * *

Maybe it was the fact that for the first time since coming to town, David had allowed himself the simple pleasure of cooking. Maybe it was the filling and warm meal in his body. Maybe it was the way the wine was going a bit to his head despite everything, running hot through his stomach and his veins and his skin. Maybe it was something in the way that Alex smiled at him, or laughed at even the worst of his less than stellar jokes. Maybe it was how small the table felt with Alex across the way or the way their feet accidentally brushed under the table a few times, or the ease of the conversation.

Whatever it was, David couldn't help but feel like he was on a date. 

He was going to kill Connie for this, he really was. Abandoning him with his gorgeous next door neighbor who was sweet, kind, and gentle, and for what? Some woman she had just met? 

It was nice, David realized as he smiled at Alex during a lull in the conversation. Just as comfortable and warm and perfect as it could have been. As he could have wished for. 

Now if only he could do anything about it. Like lean across the table and seize those beautiful...

“We never got a chance to talk about what Donut mentioned at cafe yesterday,” Alex commented as he speared a chunk of potato with his fork, and suddenly the urge to kiss the man was the furthest thing possible from David's mind.

“Donut should mind his own damn business,” David spat with a bit more force than he'd intended. Alex just smiled softly at him in response, and David took a deep breath. “You mean about the pity date.”

“Donut seemed to think there was more to it than that. In fact, Shaun seemed to...” 

“You want something we haven't talked about?” David cut Alex off, spearing a few spikes of asparagus rather than let him finish that sentence. “Just why you were talking with Shaun yesterday. From what I understand you only met him a few days ago, so it clearly wasn't catching up with an old friend.”

“It was nothing. I was just threatening him,” Alex observed, his voice cheerful and disarming and David could do nothing but stare at him. In fact, he was pretty sure that his mouth was hanging open, which probably wasn't good for it, but it pulled Alex's lips into a wider smile.

“You were... You were _what_?” David stammered, carefully pushing the glass of wine further away from himself because clearly he had heard that wrong and hearing things wrong had to be because he as too drunk. 

“Threatening him,” Alex chuckled this time, low and somehow reassuring. 

“With what? For what? Why?”

“With Alexa, for any potential actions he took in the future to harm you, and because I'm your friend,” Alex answered, counting off the points on a raised hand, smiling all the while. 

“I... Alex...” David shook his head and sighed. “I'm not some damsel in distress who needs you to look after me. I mean, yeah, it's nice to have a friend do that for me. But there are two points you're sort of missing out on here.”

“Those being?”

“First of all, I'm not an idiot. I know exactly what Shaun's after,” David said, and he had to chuckle lightly at the shocked expression on Alex's face. “Listen, I understand that you're worried about me, I mean, _I'm_ worried about me. Granted it is nice to know someone would unleash Alexa on another person for my sake, but I actually know what I'm doing. I know his reputation, Connie and the others have gone over it quite a bit. But I know what it is, and as you pointed out at the bar, that might be _exactly_ what I need right now.”

Alex was staring at him, eyes wide, blinking stupidly, and were the conversation not so serious David might have laughed at him. Instead he continued with the same serious tone he had used before. “I can't get through a day without thinking about my ex, how badly he fucked me up emotionally. I don't need an emotional connection or something serious right now. I need someone to wash his taste out of my mouth. To wipe away his hands, his smile, to clear _him_ from my mind. Someone to replace him in my head so I can start from a blank slate when I choose to try and find something... more. And, honestly, if I'm going to use someone, why not pick someone who is looking to use me, and has a reputation for being damn good at it?”

“That's... a bit cynical,” Alex said at length. “But I suppose I understand. You said there was a second point.”

“Oh, the whole wanting to get laid, at your advice, was the second point,” David chuckled. “Point one, I don't need protected. Point two, get laid. I suppose one could argue those are pretty important points in anyone's life, but they are a bit more immediately relevant to me and this situation. Still, thanks for trying to help.”

Alex started to laugh, a sound starting low in his stomach and bubbling out rich and beautiful and David could do nothing but smile at it. No, Shaun wasn't the kind of man he wanted—or needed—in a real relationship. He wanted someone more like Alex. A man who smiled with genuine warmth, who laughed without a care, and still stood ready to threaten a stranger on his behalf. Not that he could say that out loud. It would be awkward. Maybe it wouldn't be the wrench in their relationship he had thought before learning that Alex had threatened someone for him, but a wrench nonetheless. 

“You're a lot more complicated than you seem to be, David,” Alex admitted as the chuckles died away, replaced by a wide smile. 

“I aim to please,” David answered back, reaching for his wine glass again. “But seriously, you threatened him with Alexa? God, I wish I'd managed to see his expression when that happened.”

“Oh, it would have been worth it. I, of course, went for the classic veiled threat, and he all but jumped at the bait,” Alex chuckled, lifting his own glass and sipping—god he had amazing lips—at his wine. When he pulled the glass away there was a single drop still clinging to them, and god how David wanted to lean across the table and lick it away before kissing the other man. He held himself back and smiled as Alex continued. “He asked me if it was a threat, and the situation was _too_ perfect.”

“You didn't,” David chuckled, shaking his head and already reading in Alex's eyes that he'd of course gone for the cliché.

“I told him it was a promise.”

They dissolved into a mess of giggles.

* * * * * *

“Hey, thanks for not bailing on me like Connie did,” David said as they gathered up the dishes and left overs to carry into the kitchen. 

“You kind of owed me,” Alex pointed out with a smile as he moved to the sink to rinse the plates he was carrying.

“You don't have to do that,” David sighed with a shake of his head. “You were my guest.”

“And Alexa and I have a rule: one person cooks, the other cleans.”

“How long did it take you to teach her not to break the dishes?” David teased, and Alex laughed easily at the joke. 

“Years. I practically had to house break her when we moved out here together,” he joked right back, opening the dishwasher so he could move rinsed plates right to the racks. “And don't get me started on...”

Alex froze in the motion of transferring a plate from under the stream of water from the faucet to the dishwasher. He wanted to blame it on something, anything other than the sudden tension in the air. But the simple truth of the matter was that David's hand was laid gently on his wrist, and when Alex looked up he was meeting David's gaze. 

It was silent, it was intense, and dammit it was a lot closer than it should have been. Strange, he had remembered David being on the other side of him, and yet there he was, standing next to the dishwasher, close enough to have easily stopped him, far enough to make the moment... heavy. Because as Alex watched he could see the way David's eyes flicked to his lips—he was far more subtle than Shaun had been at the cafe the day before but Alex was used to looking for tiny cues—and then rose back to his eyes. For half a moment he thought he felt David's fingers twitch against his wrist, moving to grip him, hold him, solidify their minor contact into something more. He watched David swallow lightly, watched his tongue flash out over his lips, and he knew what David had to be thinking.

Because, truth be told, Alex found himself thinking the same thing. 

They were on the edge of a kiss, and the only question was whether one of them was going to push past the frozen moment that hung between them.

David was the one that broke the silence, the stillness, because Alex had resolved not to. Knew he couldn't push David past what he was willing to set as his own pace. 

“I said you didn't have to,” David's voice whispered, and it was low and hoarse and frightfully well controlled for the situation. 

Waiting wasn't easy, but he was going to let David set the pace. So Alex just smiled at his friend, shrugged, and returned the plate to the sink. “Alright then. There's nothing else I can do to help you out here? I mean, you look like you work to keep your workspace neat...”

“Yeah, that chef taught me that,” David confirmed, apparently happy to welcome the change of topic and focus because his arms crossed over his chest as he looked around the mostly clean kitchen. 

Still, Alex was struck not for the first time by just how photogenic David was. One of these days, he was going to get the other man to pose for him. Needed to do that. Had to capture the beauty of the man before it had a chance to slip through his fingers. 

“My father was of a similar opinion,” Alex agreed, turning to lean against the edge of the sink. “The messes you can deal with while working should always be handled to spare you them in the future.”

David nodded in agreement, but Alex could easily tell that the other man was looking away from him, looking everywhere but at Alex. Well... if that wasn't a subtle cue that it was time for him to leave, Alex was pretty sure he didn't know what one would look like. 

“Thanks for the meal, but looking at the time, I should really be getting back. If that's okay with you?”

“Huh?” David asked, returning his attention to Alex, a slightly haunted look in his eyes. 

“I'm going to get going, okay?”

David nodded, pushing away from the counter himself. 

“Hey, I am capable of walking from here to there on my own,” Alex teased, trying not to let his concern show. Something he'd done, something he'd said, something about all of this had upset David, and he had a nagging suspicion as to just why. 

If he ever met Ethan Cannon, Alex resolved to punch him a few times. And he might even expand his definition of 'few' to roughly ten or more. 

“Yeah, but you're a guest,” David repeated, smiling up at Alex and it looked forced. 

“I'm a friend,” Alex insisted. “Friends make themselves at home at your place. And they know how to walk from one room to another.”

“And a good friend doesn't force them to do it alone,” David countered, and his voice sounded easier. 

With that Alex pushed away from the counter and smiled when David followed. They moved for the door in silence, and with an almost unspoken agreement they both stopped short. 

“I had fun tonight,” Alex offered, and wanted to kick himself for how much it sounded like something you were supposed to say after a date. Yeah, he was definitely going to kill Connie and Alexa for this little arrangement. 

“Me too,” David admitted, and this time when Alex saw his smile, he could see how genuine it was. That was, at least, something. “We've really got to do this again sometime. Soon. Maybe you cook next time?”

“I do make a pretty awesome taco casserole,” Alex agreed, smiling.

“What kind of wine goes with taco casserole?” David laughed. “Because I don't know if I've ever had to buy for that before.”

“Well, it won't be your 'getting used to the apartment' dinner, so we can afford something a little less formal. In fact, I'll cover both next time.”

“So no party?” David asked, smiling widely and that, Alex decided, was how David should always look. Happy, cheerful, joking, not haunted like he had in the kitchen. 

“No party. Though if I do it then Alexa will invite herself, so it could turn into something entertaining anyway.”

“She's not a violent drunk is she?”

“No, more cuddly,” Alex admitted, and he held himself back from saying that she reminded him a bit of David. 

David blushed anyway, as if reading the implication without Alex having to allude to it. It looked good on him, picking out every last freckle that dusted his face like cinnamon floating on the top of a mug of hot chocolate. And yet it still put Alex in the mind of that night they went out to the bar, of coming back, of David's lips drunkenly pressing against his. 

What would he taste like sober?

“Anyway, that's a question for the future,” Alex continued, refusing to let the thoughts get to him. 

“Yeah. We'll talk about it soon. In the mean time...”

Alex didn't flinch away when David moved, and honestly, the feeling of those arms wrapping loosely around him was nice. He brought his own arms up to hug David back, a brief motion, and let David pull back without the slightest attempt to stop him. It was friendly, perfectly friendly, as was the smile David wore.

“Thanks for being concerned about me with this whole Shaun thing. I promise, it's nothing to worry over. One night and nothing more.”

“It's not my business,” Alex assured the smaller man with a smile before unlocking the door and pulling it open. “But if you need anyone to talk to...”

“You don't live far away.”

* * * * * *

The door closed behind Alex and it was all David could do not to press up against it and slide down until he was huddled in a heap at the foot of the door. 

He should have kissed Alex. Right there at the dinner table. Or by the dishwasher. Or hell, even here, by the door. Should have pulled him down and forced their lips together and tasted him. Felt the warmth that came behind that laughter and those smiles right up against his lips. 

It was the alcohol talking, David had decided. The alcohol and the mood and how nice it was to be around the other man. It was Connie's fault for not being here to chaperone, which had sort of been the point. He couldn't bear to ruin his first friendship in this damn city by kissing Alex.

And yet, that moment by the dishwasher, that _had_ been a moment, right? Alex hadn't just stayed there, utterly still, because it was fun. No, there had been something more, an anticipation or a quiet consent or maybe just patience.

Dammit, he didn't know. With a sigh David pushed himself to his feet, resisted the urge to tear at his hair, and made for the kitchen. There was still a lot of cleaning to be done—he really should have let Alex help him, but then there had been that not-moment, and the memory of Ethan with a knife, growling about betrayal—and sitting around feeling bad for himself wasn't going to get anything accomplished. 

He froze on the way there when he heard a cheerful chirp from his cellphone, advertising a message from Connie. With a sigh David made for the bedroom where he'd left the thing and snatched the device up as he flopped back onto his bed. 

_how wuz din :-?_

_You've got amazing timing._ David sighed as he glared at his phone, and wondered just how much to tell her. 

_sumthin hapn_

_Not quite. But I guess you wanted something to._

_A is rly gr8 guy u cud do worse_

_I'm not here to be set up with your customers, Connie._

_cud have fooled me w/S_

_That is no more your business than anyone else's._

_cept i did bad by u then_

_No you didn't, Connie. I was keeping it quiet._

_shud have knwn neway_

_Seriously, how can you not have basic language skills?_

_8-P_

_Child._

_XP but rly how wuz din_

_I almost kissed him._

_O.O_

_Four separate times._

_^.^_

_Connie, those aren't words. They are barely faces._

_shut up im a free spirit_

_You're a pest._

_u shud dump S for A_

_I'm not even dating Shaun. And I'm not planning on it._

_rly :-?_

_Really. Pure, mindless physical attraction._

_ooo davey's gun get laid_

_That is the idea. Is that a problem for your plans?_

_np we gud_

_I need to clean up the kitchen. No leftovers for you._

_:-( spoil sport_

_Yep, that's me._

_but think abut it A is WAY hotter_

David rolled his eyes and tossed his phone to the pillow. 

The problem, really, was that he could imagine it. Could imagine Alex, even if only in counterpoint to Shaun. He'd kiss gently, slowly, taking his time and slowly teasing David into the kind of contact that Shaun had managed to gain through shock. Everything Alex did would be with a quiet asking sort of sense about him, every step something they agreed to, even if they didn't need words for it. That, at least, was what he'd read in Alex's eyes by the dishwasher. A man who was gentle and thorough, who would run his fingers down David's body slowly, everything about him deliberate and sweet and slow. 

Alex would spend every last moment he was given searching out all the things that Ethan had never bothered to learn about him. Finding the things Ethan knew would be easy for him, of course, but his touch would be so slow, so gentle, so warm, that it would be different. Those hands sliding over his skin, those lips closing around his nipple, those eyes drinking him in with the same appreciation he'd seen on Alex's face for even the relatively cheap wine they'd shared for dinner...

David swallowed hard at the very thought of it, at the memory of that drop of wine on Alex's lips before he'd licked it away, almost thoughtlessly. He imagined the taste of that wine on those lips, on his tongue as Alex's hands pulled him in close. If he closed his eyes tightly he could see Alex pressing him into this bed, could pretend the hand sneaking under the hem of his shirt was bigger, stronger, and yet soft like silk like the skin he'd brushed against 'accidentally' so many times throughout the night. 

Would Alex be willing to run his nails lightly over his skin? David swallowed back a moan as he let his own finger nails brush his skin. He loved that sensation, always had, and he refused to let the few times Ethan had taken it too far ruin it for him. 

No, he wouldn't think about Ethan, not here, not now. No, it would be Alex, leaning over him with restrained lust in his eyes, a bastion of safety and control and comfort, and god it would be nice to be gazed down at with such desire, such restraint, such patience. Still, he'd ask Alex for it, wouldn't he? For the light graze of finger down his skin, not enough to even really turn his skin red in the wake of his touch. Just enough to make him feel it, to make the rasping sound that drove him crazy. He'd ask to be able to do the same thing, just to be able to touch the beautiful expanse of skin he knew had to be under Alex's clothes. 

His name would be a soft whisper on Alex's lips. A question and an oath all in one as his hands would trail along the top of David's pants. Those beautifully long fingers would be nimble when he undid David's belt, the button of his pants, pulled the zipper down with slow care. And they would be warm when Alex palmed him, chuckling with that rich, delicious voice of his as David pressed up into the contact. 

David couldn't help but hiss in pleasure as he ran his own palm over himself through his pants. Geez that felt good. He hadn't even considered touching himself since the knife, hadn't been in the mood for anything sexual for well over a month before that. The very thought of it had made him sick. Here, though, now, thinking of Alex... David sighed and let his other hand slip back out from under his shirt and powered through belt and button and zipper and let himself groan as he ran his hand over his erection. Fuck, how had he gone so long without this sensation? 

Maybe it was just something about Alex that made it okay to do this again. Made it okay to want this. Made him brave enough to let his fingers slip under the band of his boxers to touch himself, skin to skin, and sigh as his fingers closed around his aching erection. He could imagine it so easily, the slow, strong strokes that Alex would give him. So maddeningly slow, but exactly what he'd need. A touch that was meant to let him pull away if he wanted, to slowly walk him right up to the edge of his orgasm and past all the memories of rushed and rough touch from Ethan. David hissed as he rolled his thumb over his tip, and god the way his thumb met warm moisture was almost more than he could take.

But Alex wouldn't pause to revel in that, would he? No, he would be focused, determined, and so sweet. David started to move his hand again, falling into a rhythm he used to know perfectly and was surprised to find come so easily. It was faster than he thought Alex would use, maybe even a bit more forceful, but he convinced himself that if he asked, Alex would give him this anyway. He'd smile down at David whenever he gasped, and he would always be ready to offer more, if David asked. So David would have him close his hand a bit tighter, pump him a bit faster and _dear god._

He laid there for a while, staring up at his ceiling, ignoring the cooling warmth on his hand or the way his breathing seemed to catch in his chest. Damn, he used to last longer than this, a lot longer. 

_You used to be better, you used to care, you used to..._

David threw himself for the bed and toward the bathroom. The very thought of Ethan's voice, of those words, they set his stomach roiling. 

Dinner didn't taste as good coming up. Yet the cold fingers of water down his back from the shower were nice. They almost managed to soothe away the pain, the memory, the self-hatred. 

They didn't do it nearly so well as the memory of Shaun's lips on his, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally starting to earn that rating. Yep yep yep.


	12. Part Twelve

The face he found waiting for him in the mirror was closer to what he remembered it being. The ugly mess the stitches made as they bristled out of his face was gone, leaving only the angry red spidering of the still forming scars radiating out from his eye. The doctors had said it was lucky he hadn't lost all vision. Shaun couldn't hold back the bitter chuckle under his breath as he looked to the corner of the mirror and saw the sticky note proclaiming tomorrow's eye exam. Contacts had always been just the fucking thing he had wanted. And by wanted he clearly meant didn't want. But really, the blurriness of his vision wasn't going to remedy itself, so what choice did he have?

With a sigh Shaun tore himself from the mirror—he'd been looking into it far too frequently since the incident and not for the usual reasons—and strolled out into his living room. The place was immaculate, spotless even, thanks to the reluctant assistance of Daniel the day before, and that meant he had nothing to do. Nothing but wait. He couldn't order food until David showed up and they discussed what the best choices were—ginger chicken had to absolutely be a thing though—couldn't start the movie until David was here, couldn't do _anything_ without David.

There was nothing he hated more than waiting, except maybe the new scars. Normally he was the one that went out, picked up his dates, and took them out on the town. The apartment was a place they only ever got to if things went well—they usually did—and by that point the intentions of the night were always pretty clear. Now, instead of certainty he was pacing across the room going mad because dammit this _mattered_ and he wasn't entirely sure why that was. It mattered to him that David would be on the couch with him to watch his favorite movie of all time. It mattered that David enjoy it. It mattered that everything was perfect. 

Fuck.

The sound of knocking at his door made Shaun jump. No, maybe not _really_ jump, but it had him bolting to the door with a strange urgency, and he had to consciously stop himself at the door. Take a deep breath, he commanded himself, and was quite happy to find obedience from his body. Now, if only it kept up that whole breathing and self control thing. Well, the only way he was going to know if that would work or not would be to open the door, and with another deep breath Shaun did just that.

“You look as if you were expecting someone else,” Daniel observed, a wicked smirk on his lips. 

“I hate you _so much_ ,” Shaun growled.

“You deserve no less than this,” Daniel countered easily, but after a moment he raised an eyebrow in a questioning manner and Shaun had to sigh. Shaun didn't want questions right then and there. “You seem... unusually tense given the situation.”

“Yeah, I feel unusually tense. David's supposed to show up any minute, so if you could just get whatever you've got off your chest, D, I'd be quite a lot better,” Shaun sighed, shifting to lean against the door frame. “Spit it out.”

“Considering the... logical progression of your night, I wanted to inform you that I will be making myself scarce. Stephen has once again extended an offer for me to join him and Gary in their weekly poker game, and I have decided I shall.”

“Take those two for everything they are worth,” Shaun chuckled. “You're buying breakfast tomorrow.”

“If a breakfast purchased by myself is truly a necessity. I believe etiquette dictates that...”

“D, I love you, but I'm going to stop you there. Go to your little game, remember that Gary has a killer poker face, and don't blow all your savings.”

Daniel nodded and turned to walk away, and, with a sigh, Shaun grabbed his friend's arm to stop him. That earned him another curious look. 

“Thanks,” he whispered. All Daniel gave him in response was a curt nod before he pulled free started down the stairs. 

Shaun was about to close the door and go back to his pacing when he heard a low conversation at the base of the stairs and he did his level best to calm his suddenly pounding heart. Seriously, what was getting into him here? He normally wasn't like this, wasn't so jumpy about matters of romance. And yet as David appeared at the top of the stairs and halted on the edge of the landing to look at him, he couldn't help smile warmly. 

“I didn't know Daniel lived with you. If I had I would have...”

“D lives upstairs. We work downstairs. We sort of own the building,” Shaun found himself rambling as David smiled at him and shook his head. 

“He thinks so highly of you that he's clearing out of the building?” David asked, amusement thick in his voice as Shaun stood aside so he could enter the apartment. “Isn't that a bit... presumptuous?” 

“There's a standing poker game every Friday that some people he knows run.”

“Shaun, it's Thursday,” David pointed out with a casual confidence as Shaun closed the door behind them and watched the other man glancing around the apartment. 

“Yeah... I... hadn't thought about that,” Shaun sighed. “There must be a thing going on this weekend that caused their schedules to change. It isn't like Daniel to lie to me about this stuff, so if he says he's heading out all night for a poker game then he's doing that.”

_Or_ he was spending time with Charlotte, which was an entirely different matter that Shaun didn't want to even begin to think about. There was probably nothing stupider while on a date with someone than to think about a different person who had gotten away. His attention should have been on David, only David, who was turning back to him, stepping close and oh dear _god_ his lips _still_ tasted like cinnamon and chocolate and he _still_ smelled of strawberries and Irish Spring and sugar cookies.

Shaun leaned into the kiss, letting an arm snake around David's waist while the other reached up and tangled into that impossibly soft hair and gripped. He allowed himself a gentle tug of the hair while David's tongue ran over his and damn David was moaning into the kiss and Shaun resolved to remember that for later. It was so easy to melt into that kiss, into the intensity and hunger behind it, and into the sensation of David's fingers digging into his hips as he held Shaun close. He could just let this go on, let himself kiss David until their hands weren't still anymore, until they were tearing at each other and he was fumbling to get them to the bedroom. 

Instead he used his grip on David's hair to pull the other man away from him. 

“Normally we reserve things like that for _after_ dinner and the movie,” Shaun chuckled, and the way David shuddered in his grip at the low, husky pitch of his voice was beautiful.

“And here I thought this was the point,” David countered, his voice thick and dammit Shaun wished those beautiful green eyes weren't so heavily lidded because he'd gone through a lot of trouble here and he wasn't going to let it go to waste with something quick.

He wanted so much more than that. 

“You and D really think the worst of me,” Shaun managed to breeze as he untangled himself from David and took a step back to rub the back of his neck. “I was serious about the whole dinner and a movie thing.”

“Then you could have told me to meet you at a restaurant or theater,” David pointed out, crossing his arms over his chest and looking rather put upon. Great, Shaun was going to get grief for being restrained here. 

“I prefer to eat _with_ my movie, and I mean real food not the outrageous stuff they sell at the concessions, there aren't any movies out right now that I'm super excited about, and frankly, I find the couch so much more comfortable than theater seats,” Shaun explained with a sigh, moving toward the couch and quickly snatching a pamphlet off of it. “See, I've even got the take out menu so we can figure out what we want before we start watching. So if you can keep it in your pants for a while, why don't you come over here and order, and then I'll show you my absolute favorite movie in the world. And if you can't, the door's right there.”

To be honest, he was nervous. The way David's gaze flashed from him to the menu and then back toward the door was probably the scariest thing that Shaun had seen since the small wire in the locking mechanism almost a week ago. The way David's gaze finally settled on the menu before he strode forward to snatch it from Shaun's loose grip was probably the most relieving moment he'd had since the doctors had told him he was going to see, if slightly impaired. 

“Ginger chicken is a must,” David insisted as he started to pour over the paper and it took everything Shaun had not to groan at the implication.

This man was going to ruin him. Shaun was suddenly and powerfully certain of that. Somehow he couldn't find it in him to care.

* * * * * *

It was a date, an actual date. 

Strange, David hadn't been remotely prepared for the possibility that Shaun had been serious about this, that he'd wanted something beyond just slamming him onto the first available flat surface. He hadn't given Shaun any credit, apparently, and even when Daniel had told him on the stairs that Shaun could be unpredictable, he hadn't expected _this_. He hadn't expected to be stretched out on a couch, cuddled up against Shaun, an arm wrapped lightly and possessively around his chest while he pressed back against the warmth behind him and actually _enjoyed_ a movie. 

“Okay, so that guy...”

“Shut up and give me the lo mein,” David growled at Shaun's hushed tone. The last thing he wanted was the other man explaining yet _another_ plot hole in his so called favorite movie. Almost immediately the carton was passed into his open hand and David dug into it—he was terrible with the chopsticks and yet Shaun hadn't breathed a single snicker all night—with a gusto. 

There was so much wrong with this situation. How easily his body fit against Shaun's was probably the first. It was comfortable to be here, leaning back against him, their bodies held up by a mound of pillows and an armrest. Shaun was warm, a welcoming thing that David had readily pressed against when Shaun had suggested their current position. Originally he had tried to take advantage of it, to run his fingers up and down Shaun's thighs, to shift his hips in front of him, to do whatever he could to distract the other man and get to what he'd expected out of the evening. At every turn Shaun had rebuffed him. He would pull David's fingers away as he carefully explained some minor detail about the intricacies of working with safes. His hand would come to rest lightly on David's hip and press down just firmly enough to stop his squirming. If David twisted his head to try and look back over his shoulder at the other man he would always lean further back into the couch to put himself firmly out of easy kissing range. 

It was frustrating to no end. Frustrating and utterly amazing. 

When their dinner had come Shaun had paused the movie without comment, leaned forward just long enough to place a light kiss on David's forehead, and then untangled himself without asking David to move so he could answer the door. Food retrieved he'd set everything out on the coffee table, pulled it closer to the couch, and then wormed his way back behind David, driving giggles from David's lips and earning himself a round of applause as he settled back into his old position and asked for the sesame beef. 

It had been years since it had been this easy, this nice, this _simple_ with Ethan, and David hadn't even begun to realize how much he missed it. 

With that he pressed all the harder back against Shaun and was rewarded with a light chuckle as the arm across his chest tightened a bit. 

“Enjoying the movie?”

“It's good,” David grudgingly admitted. “Anything I should read into the handsome, young professional safecracker wanting to lead a normal life but getting caught up in the mafia?” 

“Nope. I'm not connected like that. From what I understand there hasn't been a large mafia presence in the city since this idiot mob boss tried to have the chief of police offed by some incompetent gang bangers or something,” Shaun chuckled.

“You're a locksmith who owns the building that you and your best friend live in.”

“Jointly own,” Shaun corrected, and the way his breath huffed across the back of David's neck was almost enough to make him groan. Dammit he was going to have to get to that part of this trip soon or he was going to go mad. But he just couldn't imagine leaving the movie unfinished. “I promise my ownership is legit and the money for it came to me through a wealthy uncle in town.”

“How wealthy?” David couldn't resist asking. 

“I try very hard not to woo people using my family's wealth, especially considering I'm not inheriting a penny,” Shaun chuckled. “But I will admit that the name is up on more than a few buildings around the college, and maybe the city... And the tri-county area. And don't go pressing me for my last name. It's my maternal uncle who helped me get set up here after my family disowned me.”

“So what you're saying is that you _are_ the safecracker from the movie, this is about your life, and you're on the run using a wealthy patron so you will be able to live out your dream of a house with a white picket fence, a lovely wife, and two point five children,” David teased, and it was strangely easy to do. Not quite so ready as it was with Alex, but damn close. 

Shit, this hadn't been what he'd planned on. 

“Yeah, except I've never done this...” Shaun whispered, and David desperately wished that he would have followed that up with _something_ other than pointing their attention back to the movie while the 'hero' pistol whipped someone. There was a corner of his mind that supplied a name for the character, but it was overwhelmed by David twisting on the couch to look up at Shaun, whose eyes were riveted on the movie.

No, David was done with this. Yes, the movie was nice, yes he was enjoying it, but the more he thought about it, the more he really couldn't take this anymore. The comfortable silence, the teasing jokes, the brief touches that could have been so much more if Shaun would just get over himself and let them be. 

“Shaun,” he whispered, pitching his voice low. For all that Shaun was clearly trying to keep the distance between them, the quiet tone made him lean in closer, his eyes still glued to the screen. It wasn't much of a difference, but it was enough of one for David to wrap his arm around the back of Shaun's neck and pull him in. He had a moment to meet a shocked—and eager—gaze, before they were kissing again. 

Shaun tasted like soy and ginger and heat, and the combination was just short of heady. What pushed it over the line into that territory was the fact that this time Shaun didn't pull away. Instead he leaned forward, met the demanding press of David's lips with the same intensity as one of his hands caught up in David's hair and tugged with more force than before. David let himself moan, and fumbled the take-out carton in his hand to the coffee table, immediately moving his suddenly free hand to Shaun's hip. Shaun's nearer arm wrapped under his back and just like that David found himself flat on the couch, Shaun straddling him and leaning down heavily into the kiss.

They pulled apart to the sound of another explosion and David chuckled lightly at the annoyed expression Shaun was staring down at him with.

“You really don't understand the whole point of this evening, do you?” Shaun asked, his voice thick with something David could only call lust, a theory reinforced when he rolled his hips up and felt Shaun's growing arousal. 

“I came here thinking this _was_ the point,” David answered, smiling at the war of want and reluctance on Shaun's face. “Looks like we got our signals crossed somewhere.”

“What are we supposed to do about that?” Shaun asked, smiling as well as his hands untangled from David and slid down his shirt.

“Well, we've done the dinner and a movie you wanted, we even cuddled, so why don't we hit the step between those,” David said, swallowing hard as Shaun's hand ghosted over his nipples through his t-shirt.

“See, the problem is I don't quite like having my movie interrupted,” Shaun's voice teased as his hands played over David's chest, coming at last to a stop just short of the hem before reversing directions. David didn't even try to hold back the frustrated whine at Shaun's restraint. It wasn't what he wanted here and now.

“No, Shaun, the problem is that you're not fucking me. Solve that one and I might care about your movie.”

* * * * * *

It wasn't a request, it was a demand, and damn how was Shaun supposed to resist it when there was so much need in that voice? Need mixed with the sharp edge of an order. Fuck, why didn't David seem to understand that this wasn't the path he'd wanted to walk tonight? This wasn't supposed to be some one off thing. The point was to win more than a body writhing below him for a night. More than a single taste of the tanned length of Wash's neck. 

“You're really stubborn aren't you?” Shaun chuckled, but he was moving anyway, leaning in to seize those lips briefly again before tearing away from them—geez those little moans of his were about the most arousing thing he'd ever heard—so he could kiss along the line of the other man's jaw, each kiss open mouthed and quick, until he was in position to pull David's ear lobe between his teeth to suck and nibble. The way his hips bucked up at that, the way his voice rose with a wordless plea, they were perfect.

They would ruin him, and Shaun didn't care. 

“Fuck,” David hissed below him as Shaun released his ear and started to kiss down his neck. 

“Well, that was what you asked for,” Shaun chuckled against his skin. “Changing your mind?”

“No. God no. But no one warned me you'd be a tease.”

“What _did_ they tell you?” Shaun chuckled, moving further down that neck until he was brushing his lips along the line of David's collar. For good measure he even allowed himself to lick the hollow of his neck, and that got him a sweet groan. Damn, he just had to be vocal on top of everything else. 

“That you'd be good.”

“Intend to prove them right on that count,” Shaun insisted, letting his hands go at last to the edge of David's shirt. Getting it off wasn't easy, not with how David's hands were trying to get up his own shirt, wrapping around his back and scratching lightly. It was even worse with their position, but when Shaun tugged David arched his back, and at that at least got it up to his armpits. 

“Gonna have to move,” Shaun hissed, ducking down to place more kisses on David's now bared stomach. “I know I'm a wonder to touch but...”

“Shut up,” David gasped out, and then his hands were gone from Shaun's back and it was easy to get the shirt off after that. 

His eyes were drawn immediately to the scar. It wasn't pretty, but it wasn't the nastiest that Shaun had seen—that title went hands down to a couple of bullet hole scars on Tex's back that he'd gotten a peek at once—but something drew him to it nonetheless. His tongue started at the base of the shoulder and licked along it, following the rough, puckered skin with his tongue until he hit the base of David's neck.

He'd expected a shudder, expected another one of those delicious moans that were going straight to his groin. Instead he felt David stiffen under him, in a bad way. A very bad way. Too late to take back the action now, but Shaun immediately pulled away and looked down at the man who had been all but begging him for this moments before. What he found was horror and pain flashing in those beautiful eyes. 

“Don't...” David gasped out after a moment. “I... Just, please, don't.”

“Someone hurt you.” The words escaped from Shaun's lips and hung in the air between them, unable to be called back, and something in David's expression only confirmed it. 

And there, he realized, was the landmine that Tex had alluded to in the cafe. Whatever had caused that, it had been terrible, personal, and violent.

Fuck. 

“David, if you want to stop...”

“I don't,” he moaned, but it wasn't in pleasure. No, there was pain in that sound. Pain and a need more desperate than Shaun could chalk up simply to the arousal he could still feel from the other man. “Please, I just need to...”

“Don't let them hold you like this.”

The confusion on David's face was plain as day and Shaun sighed. Dammit, things were going so well before he'd gotten caught up in his need to touch David. 

“I don't...”

Shaun let his fingers trail along the scar, forced them to stay there despite the way it made David cringe. 

“Whoever did this to you, David, they aren't worth your time, they aren't worth your care, and they sure as hell aren't worth shit at all. You're here, they aren't. So you've got to ask yourself something. Are you going to wear this as a chain, tying you to them and what they tried to do, or...” Shaun leaned in and kissed along the scar, open mouthed and slow and maybe with the littlest nip of teeth and finally he felt David shift under him from pleasure again. “You can wear it with honor. You took this and kept going. You're still here. A mark of freedom. You're more than the moment that made this, more than the person who you were when it happened. You're strong, beautiful, and so wonderfully frustrating. So wear it in defiance. Don't let whoever did this own you with it.”

“What would you know about something like this?” David snarled, and Shaun pulled back so he could look down at the other man, and he saw the realization and regret flash through David's eyes almost immediately. He even held still as David's hand slowly came up and trailed along the left side of his face, not quite touching the angry red scars that had yet to develop the strength and paler cast of the one David wore.

“I'm... Shit, I'm sor...”

“I can either be trapped in that moment, stuck as a man certain he was going to die, or I can be something beyond that moment. I can be the person that was almost blinded because I was stupid and he was psychotic. I don't like that person, David. I don't like how the only thing he knew, the only thing he felt, was pain and fear. How I hoped I'd die quickly to make it easier. I'd much rather be the man who has you pinned to this couch, who was just moments ago being begged to fuck you. In my position who would you rather be? The breaking, dying fool, or the potential lover?”

“Lover,” David breathed and there were hands in Shaun's hair hauling him down into another demanding, searing kiss.

* * * * * *

His hands found Shaun's shirt, start tugging it up and up and dammit Shaun had to pull out of the kiss so David could get it all the way off. Then the shirt was a distant memory, tossed of somewhere that David couldn't even begin to care about as Shaun didn't close to kiss again, but to suck and nibble down his throat. 

“Don't want this here,” David gasped out as Shaun nipped along his collar bone. 

“Just tell me where you want it then,” Shaun rasped, moving down his chest to suck on David's nipple, and he couldn't help but groan and let his body arc into the contact.

“You've got a bed right?”

Shaun pulled back and stared at him with blatant shock. “You... Shit, you meant...”

“What did you think I meant?” David demanded, unable to keep the amusement out of his voice.

“I... Honestly I don't know,” Shaun laughed, and just like that he was crawling off David, and damn he wished he hadn't said anything because Shaun's weight on him had been good, better than good, amazing. Still, when Shaun grabbed his arm David let himself be pulled to his feet and from there into a kiss. 

He heard more than saw Shaun kick the coffee table a bit further away and he let himself just throw everything he had into the kisses as he found himself backed up by Shaun. Almost suddenly he decided he wasn't going to be entirely passive in this, and his hands were at Shaun's waist, fumbling at the damn button of his pants and some small part of his mind was thankful that Shaun didn't wear a belt. It took more effort than he'd really expected, and yet David wasn't entirely surprised to find his legs press back against something when he finally got the button out of the way and pulled the zipper down. 

“You're eager,” Shaun mumbled into their latest kiss—just as searing and demanding as every previous one—and then there were hands at David's waist as well. Hands that were more nimble, because David was certain that in this state he couldn't have gotten his own belt undone that easily, much less the button and zipper. He had barely managed to work Shaun's pants down over his hips before Shaun hooked his thumbs into David's boxers and pushed them down to the point where no amount of elastic was going to hold them up and they were pooling on the floor of their own accord. 

“Fuck,” David gasped as a warm hand closed around his erection. “Who's eager now?”

“Me,” Shaun admitted with a breathy chuckle, and then the hand was gone. David whimpered from against Shaun's lips for the loss just before Shaun's hands were there on his hips, lifting him slightly and pushing him back.

The bed was just firm enough to give it some spring, and David couldn't hold back the giggle as he bounced on the soft brown sheets. Shaun was smiling at him from the foot of the bed and while David pushed himself up onto his elbows to get a better view Shaun pushed his pants the rest of the way off and crawled onto the bed. It was an amazing sight that might have gotten him hard if he hadn't been there already. As it was it just made him smile lecherously at the other man. 

“You're ridiculous,” David insisted as Shaun crawled up the bed, more than ready to to pull the other man down onto him the second he was close enough for a kiss. 

The moment didn't come. Instead David watched with shock as Shaun leaned down far short of his lips and gasped as a tongue flicked out over the head of his cock. His hips bucked of their own accord and immediately Shaun's hands were there, forcing them down against the bed. 

“Fuck, Shaun, you don't...”

“I want to,” Shaun insisted, and David mewled as that damn tongue ran from the base of his erection all the way to the tip before Shaun lightly pressed his lips against the crown and smiled widely. 

“Fuck,” David repeated, unable to come up with a better reaction. 

“Indeed,” Shaun chuckled, his lips closing over the head of David's cock for just a moment to give a strong suck before he pulled back. “Now that we've got you here, I've got some questions.”

“Huh?”

“Questions, David. The things I ask and you answer,” Shaun chuckled, and there was a hand trailing gently over his balls while Shaun's tongue flicked out to tease him yet again. “See, the way I got that reputation for being so good is because I'm like a musician.”

“Musician?” David moaned and bucked against Shaun's grip as the other man swallowed him down briefly, humming around his cock before pulling back up and off with a wet slurp. 

“My success or failure depends on knowing my audience.” There were hot, open mouthed down one side of his cock. “Not requests so much as knowing the genre I'm marketing toward.” Hot, open mouthed kisses up the other side of his cock as a thumb pressed along the underside, firm and so perfect. 

“Ask,” David gasped, surprised he could find enough breath to get the word out. 

“Just a yes or no list,” Shaun purred before he took only the tip of David into his mouth and swirled his tongue around him. Then that heat was gone again and David moaned at the loss. “Dirty talk?”

“Yes.”

“Hair pulling?”

“Please.” Oh god Shaun was wrapping a hand around him and slowly pumping and dammit he wouldn't be able to handle this long. 

“Scratching.”

“You better.”

“Marks?”

“Keep them hidden.”

That one earned him a lecherous grin before Shaun sucked on him a bit more. God, his body felt like fire. 

“Rough?”

“No.”

“Restraints?”

“No.”

“Spanking?”

“Never.”

The hands were gone from his hips, one still wrapped firmly around him, the other slowly toying with his balls. 

“Terms like 'babe' or 'hun?'”

“No.”

“Names?”

“Always.”

“Looks like we've cleared the immediate list,” Shaun chuckled and David was left panting as Shaun swallowed him again, hands still working. 

“Shit, Shaun,” David gasped, his hips bucking off the bed as the hand slipped from his balls to scratch down the inside of his thigh. “Fuck, I...”

All he got in response was a pleased hum around his cock that made him shudder and an even harder suck. 

“I can't... I... Shaun.”

David's hands came up, tangled in Shaun's hair, and he tried his best to keep quiet. Almost immediately Shaun was pulling up and away, and glancing up the bed at him. 

“Did you _miss_ the fact that Daniel left and I _own the building_? There's no one here to hear you but me, David. You don't have to hold back on me. I want to hear you.”

“Shaun, I haven't...”

The mouth was back, more intent than before, and it was too much, far too much. It had been too long, Shaun was too good, and Ethan had never cared to do _this_ before. 

“Shaun, I'm...”

Another suck, this time punctuated by a swirl of tongue and it was far too much. Shaun's name tore from his lips again, this time in a scream, as his hips bucked up as he spilled himself into that hot mouth. And Shaun, fucking _hell_ , Shaun just let him. 

His body felt like it was melting into the bed as he came down from the high, and David could feel his cheeks burning with shame. 

“I'm sorry, so sorry,” he gasped out as he watched Shaun crawl up the bed toward him. “I didn't mean to... I'm...”

Shaun pulled him into a firm kiss, and he tasted like fire and sex. When he pulled away David wanted to pull him back, wanted another kiss like that, that was deep and intense and made his whole body scream. Instead he laid there as Shaun's hand cupped his face and he was faced with a wide smile. 

“Whatever it is, David, it's not a problem.”

“I just.... In your mouth...” David stammered. 

“And it was delicious.”

The words were ridiculous, stupid, and said with such an intensity and honesty that David had no choice but accept them when Shaun leaned in for another kiss. Their bodies pressed together, and David could feel Shaun's erection pressing against him. Almost immediately his hands were reaching for it, and before he could get a good grip Shaun had knocked the touch away. 

“I should...” David insisted, only to be cut off by another one of those burning kisses. When Shaun pulled away it was with a satisfied grin. 

“Don't worry, I have every intention of letting you take care of that. But only after you're ready to go again.”

“Again?” David whimpered as Shaun's hands trailed over his legs, his hips, his stomach, to rest finally against his chest with his fingers pinching David's nipple. 

“Oh hell yes. Need to hear more of your voice.”

“You're...”

“I need to hear it, David. Want to hear you moan for me. Beg for me. Plead for me to screw you into my bed. I have every intention to have every other word out of your mouth be please,” Shaun purred as he leaned in to kiss along David's neck. “By the time I'm done with you tonight you're going to have to stay with here with me because you're not going to be able to walk, much less drive home. Your legs are going to be jelly, your mind mush, and every touch of mine is going to drive you crazy. How does that sound?”

It sounded beautiful. It sounded perfect. It sounded like exactly what he needed. 

And damn it it didn't sound like something he could get dangerously used to.


	13. Part Thirteen

How long had it been since he had been able to steal a moment like this? How long since he had been comfortable lying in another man's arms? How long since having the heat of another person pressed against the length of his body, the breath of another person brushing over his neck, the hand of another person lingering on his hip hadn't invoked fear? Maybe it had been months, but there was something that told David it had been longer than that. That things had been bad between him and Ethan for a lot longer than he'd been willing to admit. 

He couldn't remember the last time Ethan had left him so worn out after sex, or so utterly satisfied. Part of him remembered mumbling something along those lines against Shaun's neck as the other man collapsed against him, and he'd earned a deep chuckle and a deeper kiss that ended with Shaun nipping lightly at his lips. They'd stayed there together for a while, just breathing, until Shaun had finally pulled away, saw to cleaning them both up, and then he'd caught David up in his arms and held him. 

It was nice. It was sweet. It was so much more than he'd expected to find.

Which was why David couldn't quite understand why he was pulling himself from the pleasure of Shaun's touch. Why he was so willingly drawing away from the unspoken offer to just fall asleep in those arms and never leave. Yet he did, and before he knew it David had his feet on the floor and he was quietly padding through the bedroom. He paused at the end of the bed to scoop up his pants, and then shuffled out of the bedroom and into the still well lit living room. Slowly he picked his way around this room as well, searching for his wayward shirt. That gathered with his pants and shoes he slowly started to dress. It was time to...

“I don't know whether to be ashamed that I failed to follow through on the whole jelly legs promise or angry that you're acting like someone I picked up in a bar.”

David froze with his pants on and unzipped and one arm and his head in his shirt.

Fuck. He hadn't wanted this part. All he had wanted was to get out of here quickly and quietly and let that do all of the speaking for him. 

“Shaun,” he sighed, pulling the shirt the rest of the way on before turning to face the other man. Strange, he had been certain that he was prepared to see Shaun, yet as he looked at him there, leaning casually up against the bedroom door and looking as confident stark naked as he had clothed, he realized he wasn't. Try as he might he couldn't keep his eyes from following the lines of Shaun's body, from lingering too long on a certain region, and he sure as hell couldn't keep his body from reacting to the sight despite being certain their earlier activities had worn him out. 

“This the point where you feed me some bullshit line about an early morning meeting?” Shaun asked, pushing away from the door and striding confidently across the room. “I checked the clock, David, so I'm not going to fall for that. It's only midnight. You could easily have spared me a bit more time, a bit more _respect_ , before you ran off. Or how about the 'it's not you, it's me' one? I get that more than you'd think.”

“Shaun, I...”

“Oh please, I'm really looking forward to this, David, so just spit it out,” Shaun sighed, and it was only as he stood in front of David, staring down at him, that it occurred to David what sounded so off about Shaun. 

There was none of the usual confidence, none of the arrogance, none of the composure he had come to associate with the other man. No, there was pain, disappointment, and a slight touch of shock.

“I told you what I came here for,” David said at last, deciding that maybe being blunt was the best option. “This was only ever supposed to be...”

“And I told _you_ more than once that wasn't I wanted,” Shaun countered, shaking his head. “But I'm guessing none of that figured into your thought process. What happened to having a chance, David?”

“I gave you a chance, you got my attention, and the sex was amazing,” David sighed, shaking his head. “Please, don't make this...”

“Awkward? Yeah, too late for that,” Shaun laughed, and it was actively bitter. 

“You know, for someone who...”

“I'd really suggest you don't finish that thought, David,” Shaun warned him, his eyes going hard. “Because honestly, I can't take that on top of everything else. Because, you know, I did spend a lot of time reinforcing the idea that this was a date. That I didn't want something this simple.”

“I don't know what you expect...”

“Bullshit,” Shaun hissed, and before David could really realize just how close he'd let Shaun get, there was a hand in his hair. It wasn't grabbing, it wasn't pulling, it just encouraged his head to tilt just enough up that he was in place for the kiss. 

David had grown used to Shaun's kisses. They were heat and need and pressure that burned through him like a wildfire and left only ashes behind until the next kiss. They moved from the sudden press to tongues in the space of a heart beat, and they were built upon hands that pulled at his body with a wild need. They were fast and hungry and Shaun's lips wandered so fast to his jaw, his neck, his ears, anywhere Shaun could get to.

This was different. This was Shaun leaning in slowly, pressing their lips together chastely before applying any pressure. This was a soft, somehow pleading brush of a tongue that asked for something more rather than demanded it. David let his eyes close as he pushed up to find more force, only to have Shaun pull back just enough to keep the contact maddeningly light. When his lips parted Shaun didn't surge forward with need, but went slow, coaxing his tongue light touches and slow movements and something so sweet that it burned like ice in his gut. David tilted his head to the side just enough to get better contact, and at that he felt Shaun's other hand come into play, wrapping around him and resting in the small of his back to pull them together. Again there was no demanding force, just a quiet request that burned in its own way. A plea with touches rather than words. 

It took everything David had to bring his hands up to Shaun's shoulders to push him away. God there was a part of him that didn't want that, that ached to melt into the strange intensity of the contact, that wanted to explore just what it could mean. Instead he pressed and Shaun, almost like magic, released him. No argument, no strain, just a touch and Shaun was gone, and David's body was crying out from the loss. It wanted this man in the worst way, wanted to have that kiss back, wanted to have Shaun just push him back on the couch and beg to be taken again. David squashed the urge, but it was harder than it should have been. 

* * * * * *

“Shaun, I didn't...” David gasped the words out, and the only thing Shaun couldn't hold back was another chuckle, a pained one that tore through his chest and screamed through him for all that it was short.

“You want to know the worst part?” he asked as he moved to lean against the arm of the couch. “The absolute worst part?”

David just stood there, silent and waiting. Clearly there was something going on in that head, but Shaun sure as fuck didn't know what it was. But he wasn't saying no, he wasn't walking away, he was just standing there. That was all the permission Shaun needed to keep going.

“Your friend, Alex, warned me that he'd deal with me if I did anything to hurt you. Strange, no one thought to figure out what was supposed to happen if _you_ hurt _me_. Honestly, D's probably going to laugh over this whole thing. Call it some kind of karmic retribution for something or other. He'll probably even be able to calculate the exact thing I apparently did to piss the cosmos off so much.”

Still David didn't speak. He just watched as Shaun raised one of his hands to run through his hair before shaking his head again. The motion wasn't much, but it got some of the nervous tension out. It kept his hands from shaking. Because, honestly, Shaun felt that if he wasn't moving himself somehow his whole body was going to shake apart. 

“No. As pathetic as it is, that isn't the _worst_ part. The worst part is I'm standing here naked, in my living room, trying _so_ hard to be angry at you. To be furious. To find something in me to let me yell and plead and rant or something. Okay, so maybe I'm really hitting the groove on the rant thing. But I'm standing here naked trying to be angry at you, and the only thing I _can_ do is hope that you'll change your mind. That whatever it is that's making you do this, that makes you think this is the right decision, is going to pass.”

The look on David's face really didn't seem to allow for that. This time Shaun caught the bitter laugh before it came out and he held it in, held it back, because where was it going to get him? He'd put everything into that kiss, into trying to make him understand with the contact what David had clearly ignored about the evening, about his every touch in the bed, about the attention he'd lavished on him. 

Maybe that wasn't enough. Maybe he had to...

“I don't know how, I don't know why, and it sure as fuck doesn't make any sense, but the problem we've got here, David, is that I'm falling in love with you and I don't know what to do about that. There's a part of me that says I need to press you against a wall and kiss you until it gets through your head that this was _never_ a one night thing for me. But really, that will get us no where, will it?” 

Was it possible that he'd just broken David's mind at some point? Because when Shaun looked at David he was still there, standing and staring. The major change was that his mouth wasn't hanging open and his brow was scrunched up from concentration. 

“I'm falling in love with you, and that's not going to get me anywhere. Not here, not now. Maybe never,” Shaun sighed, pushing off of the arm of the couch and hoping he looked more composed than he felt. Seriously, how had his body not managed to shake apart yet? Because damn it felt like it should have a long time past. “And, like some kind of idiot, I don't care. Like an idiot I'm going to say something so stupid that we should probably both ignore it. But whenever you figure out what you want, David, whenever you figure out what you're doing with yourself or whatever, I'll be here. Right here. All you've got to do is ask, and I'll be here. In the mean time... there's the door.”

Shaun didn't dare let himself stay still. Didn't dare let himself look at David and hope that the blond would say something or reach for him. That would break what little control he'd managed to cobble together, would break him without Daniel anywhere around to pick up the pieces. So instead he just turned away and shuffled for the bathroom. A shower sounded good right about now. Something scalding hot that would burn his skin and stop the shivering. 

He didn't even have time to close the bathroom door behind him before he heard the apartment door closing. Well, at least that told him not to wait up. Shaun moved to the shower and frowned when he realized that he'd used the last of soap earlier. With a sigh—had to sigh because it was better than screaming—he crouched before the sink and opened the cabinet under it to search for a new bar. He even managed to pull it out of the package and stand up before he caught sight of himself in the mirror. 

The eyes he met weren't those of the cheerful, confident man that he'd presented himself to David as. No, the gaze he met in the mirror was that of the broken, dying fool who had sprawled in the hall of the complex that O'Malley had holed up in. The gaze of the disappointment to his father that had been cut off and forced to go begging a relative he'd barely known to help him. 

He didn't remember throwing the soap, but he must have and with force, because there was a crack he didn't remember cutting across the glass. One that, amusingly, cut through his reflected left, along the same general line as his new scars. Well, that was going to be annoying. 

With a sigh Shaun abandoned the idea of the shower and shuffled out of the bathroom, heading instead for the couch. He collapsed readily onto the comfortable surface, pushed the memories of David on it out of his head, and pulled the blanket that lived over its back down over his body. Then he fumbled for the phone he'd left there after ordering and called the only number he had on speed dial.

Daniel picked up on the third ring, as reliable as ever. 

“I would like to assure you, Shaun, that I am not in fact losing my savings, but have made a tidy profit up until this point. Stephan has offered me his couch for the...”

“D...”

There must have been something in his voice, maybe it had cracked, because he could almost _hear_ Daniel's mind racing. Was that even possible over a phone?

“Cash me out,” he heard Daniel say, not into the phone, but he could hear it anyway. “I'll be back soon. Do not do anything stupid.”

“Probably too late to late for that,” Shaun admitted, holding back the strange laughter that was bubbling up in his stomach. “Yeah, definitely too late.”

“If I might ask what happened?” Daniel said, his voice soft and insistent even as Shaun let himself focus on the sound of Gary cursing lightly in the background and Stephan grumbling about something else as he picked out the sound of Daniel hauling on that peacoat he'd bought his friend the previous Christmas. 

“I fell in love, D. And for all the warnings people issued me, no one thought to tell the other guy not to break _me_.”

* * * * * *

“Morning, Dav...”

“Not talking about it,” David insisted as he breezed past Connie and went straight for the back room. The sooner he could throw himself at something productive like learning more of the specialty drinks or helping Caboose and Connie bake, the sooner he was going to get into the right place to deal with the customers he least wanted to see. 

God, what he would give right now to see Alex. 

He managed to get his apron on just as Connie stuck her head into the back room, and then he was pushing through the doors that led into the kitchen. Yeah, he wasn't running at all. 

“Oh, very good morning, Wash!” Caboose greeted him cheerfully, before his voice took on a reproving tone. “You are late for work.”

“Only ten minutes,” David sighed, not even bothering to try and correct Caboose. More than a week here and he hadn't been able to break anyone of the habit of calling him 'Wash' instead of by his name. “That isn't too bad.”

“Well you should wash your hands and then you can help me make the pecan wheels,” Caboose cheerfully announced, and David moved straight to the sink to start scrubbing his arms down. 

“David,” he heard Connie call from the door, and he didn't even bother to look up from his task. Not necessarily because he didn't want to, but there was something about the way the water brushed over his skin, smooth and fluid and warm, that made him think of Shaun. 

Everything made him think of Shaun to be honest. The tightness of his jacket around his shoulders when he hunched forward had felt like Shaun's arms around him. The cup of coffee he'd allowed himself when he'd awoken had the heat of his lips and his touch and his amazing mouth. The slip of his sheets over his skin had reminded him of Shaun's bed and how his fingers had tangled into the sheets with what had felt like rending strength as Shaun had moved in him the first time, each thrust teasingly timed and yet carefully aimed, and dear god it had been amazing. The rough touch of the paper towels he snatched to dry his hands reminded him of Shaun's tongue and the amazing things it had done to his...

Well, at least the whole thing hadn't made him physically ill like taking his love life into his own hand after dinner with Alex had. 

“David,” Connie repeated, her voice harder. 

“Don't worry, Miss Boss, I know what we need to do this morning. I can tell Wash,” Caboose offered, and for once David found himself very thankful for Caboose's clear lack of skill with reading social situations. Connie just sighed and disappeared from the door, leaving David to join Caboose. 

“I don't like seeing my friends upset,” Caboose observed as David came to stand next to him, and almost immediately David was revising his opinion of Caboose's social awareness. 

“I'm not upset, Caboose, I'm just...”

“You're upset. I know. I have that look whenever Tex is in town,” Caboose insisted, not taking his eyes from the dough he was preparing. “It's not a good look. I don't want you to be sad, Wash.”

“I'm not sad, Caboose, I'm just... confused,” David admitted as he evaluated just how far Caboose was into the recipe before going to gather the things he would need to make the pecan glaze. 

“About Mister Shaun,” Caboose said almost immediately and David had to pause again. Apparently he was _severely_ underestimating Caboose. He hated to do that. 

“Yeah, about Shaun,” David admitted with a smirk as he corralled his ingredients near Caboose's working surface and started to measure things out. 

“And your date last night.”

“Who told you we were... Donut,” David sighed, shaking his head. “Yeah. About our date.”

“Did it not go well? I hate it when dates don't go well. Church gets frustrated at the movies we go to see sometimes and he has a bad mood all night and it isn't very nice.”

All David could do was stare at Caboose. Maybe the other things had been shocking, but nothing quite compared to the little bomb Caboose had just dropped. He'd been so certain that Church was involved with that Allison. And yet from what Caboose was saying... Oh god that might explain more than a few strange things he'd noticed between the two of them. Such as the way that Church had fixated on a smudge of cupcake frosting on the tip of Caboose's nose last week. 

“You and Church...”

“Being in love with someone is really hard work,” Caboose continued, completely ignoring David's confused mumblings. “Sometimes you have to learn to accept things about them that you really don't like as much as you could because it's who they really are. And sometimes they don't always do the things you love because they need to do other things too. It's hard. But it's really nice.”

“I... Yeah, Caboose, it's nice,” David agreed, still frowning as he returned his attention to the work before him. “And it's hard work.”

And he hated himself for how he'd treated Shaun. Maybe not the leaving, but the leaving without a word. The letting Shaun just stand there and rant and admit deeper feelings than David had guessed at, and then saying _nothing_ about them. More than that, he felt like shit for doing what he had, setting out to use Shaun simply because he thought that was what Shaun had been after. Funny, hadn't Alex said something about a one night stand sometimes being something cruel? Maybe he had been right. Maybe David shouldn't have gone about things the way he had. 

Too late to put that cat back in the bag, though. 

“The way Mister Shaun looks at you is pretty happy,” Caboose observed as David quickly measured and started to mix. “It is nice to have someone look at you like that. I hope your next date with him goes well.”

“I'm... There isn't going to _be_ another date, Caboose,” David frowned. “It was a one time thing.”

“Ah. That's sad. Mister Shaun is a really nice guy, and he kisses nice.”

Okay, that was too much for David to pass up. He slowly pushed the bowl away from himself just to make sure he didn't upset it, and turned to stare hard at Caboose. 

“You've kissed Shaun?”

“Oh yes. Once. He was very nice, and doesn't tell anyone about it,” Caboose answered, smiling widely. “I... wanted to make sure I liked kissing guys before.... Well, before. And Tucker said something about him kissing really well. So I tried, and he promised not to say anything about it. It was nice. Now when I need help figuring out Church, I ask him. Mister Shaun is really super nice. It's sad that he doesn't have someone who is in love with him. If you're not too busy being in love with Mister Alex, do you think you could...”

“I'm... I don't... I'm not...” David sputtered, and that got Caboose to actually look up at him, tilting his head slightly. “Who told you that I'm in love with Alex?”

“Nobody,” Caboose laughed before returning to his work. “But do not worry, Wash, I will keep your secret if you want me to. I won't tell anyone about the way you smile at him. It's a lot like the way you smile at Mister Shaun.”

David just returned his attention silently to his work, trying desperately hard to process what Caboose had said. 

The only thing he came away with was that he wasn't going to ask Connie to let him work back here with Caboose today like he'd been intending. Even facing Shaun would be better than facing the strange revelations and grains of knowledge that fell from Caboose's lips every time he opened his mouth today. 

* * * * * *

A week, give or take a few days. That was all it had taken to completely change Alex's life. He'd gone from quiet and happy and content with what he had to hungering for something more. Someone more. For all the good it was doing him. It was going to take a lot more than a week to end up where he wanted with David.

It was time he didn't have. 

Alex sighed and shifted his coat on his shoulders as he shuffled toward Connie's. Honestly, he could have driven, could have been here a lot earlier, but the simple truth was that he hadn't wanted that. Hadn't wanted to be here in time to see Shaun at that booth of his for all that he'd wanted to see David as early as possible.

David...

He should have kissed him, there in David's apartment. Should have pulled David in, tilted his head up, and leaned down to taste him. Instead he'd held back, he'd waited, and as he'd expected, David hadn't moved to close the distance between them. It had been a special kind of pain that he'd smiled through as David had walked him to the door and failed to kiss him yet again. It had left him on the other side of the door, finger tips lightly resting against the wood as he tried to justify this to himself. Reinforce that the important thing was convincing David to take this at his own pace. Of course there sort of had to be a 'this' before that. 

In the end Alex had found himself stretched out on his bed, bottle of beer beside him on the nightstand, when Alexa had come home. There had been a mixture of annoyance and pity when she found him there, moping. There really hadn't been a better term for it, and Alex hadn't argued when his sister had called him on it. Still, she had stayed there with him, sitting on the floor with her back against his bed as he explained it all. She didn't say anything about all the times he could have kissed David, all the times he _should_ have kissed David, and she even managed to stay silent after he told her about David's intentions on Shaun. 

She'd waited until he was done before she'd grabbed his arm up on the bed and tugged. It had been easier to just obey her than to fight—Alexa was far stronger than he was—and Alex had let himself slip to the floor, sitting beside her with his knees pulled up to his chest. Her arm had been strong and warm against his shoulders when she's yanked him closer, and Alex had just welcomed the easy companionship and comfort that she always offered. 

How other people lived without a twin was beyond him.

When he'd had time to relax she'd finally started to talk. Told him that sometimes this was what someone needed. That maybe David would be ready when he felt like he was free of his ex, that maybe something simple and meaningless might be better for him. She promised to talk to Connie about it. More than anything, though, she told him that he couldn't keep doing this to himself. He needed to lay the cards out and let the chips fall where they may. That first thing in the morning he was going to have to march into the cafe and tell David everything, regardless of whether David had a date that night or not. 

Alex had agreed. He'd gone to bed with a mumbled affection from her, and resolved that he needed to do this. 

When he woke up the sky had fallen down around him. 

“Good morning.”

David's voice, warm and welcoming, was a god send as Alex strode through the doors and into the welcome warmth of the cafe. Alex couldn't help but smile widely at the other man standing by a table with an older couple before he moved for the nearest booth. That being said, he did everything he could to avoid Connie's gaze and the pity he knew he would find there. So he focused on the table and waited for that beautiful voice to return. 

“You look miserable,” David's voice observed, and Alex smiled up at him, and immediately bit back an agreement when he looked up at David. There were bags under his eyes, and not the right kind. No, there was too much tension about his shoulders to be from satisfaction alone. 

“A large coffee with cinnamon, a pecan wheel, and I'll trade for a friendly ear.”

David smiled down at him in a soft manner before looking back over his shoulder toward the counter. Alex allowed himself to follow that gaze and saw the strained look on Connie's face as she nodded. Even as David turned back to smile at him again Alex could see the concern and hope Connie wore openly for Alex's sake, and he wasn't quite sure what to do with that. 

“It's late enough that I can take a break,” David offered. “Mind if I do it here?”

“Not at all,” Alex said, still keeping his gaze on Connie. Just what had happened since he'd last been here? Other than his own bad news of course. 

Soon enough David was back and slid in across from Alex after moving drinks and pastries down before them. 

“You look a bit down,” Alex observed, a bit worried. David had been with Shaun last night, and part of him really wanted to know what had happened. The rest warred with that, knowing it would be worse if he did know. Worse to be certain of the things he had only suspected. “I'm going to guess this has to do with Shaun. Did...?”

“He's in love with me,” David sighed, glaring down at his drink. 

“Wait... What?” Alex asked, trying hard not to recoil at the sudden declaration. 

“Shaun. Turned out he actually wanted a date. He got a bit upset when I tried to sneak out...” David sighed before he moved to sip at his drink. 

“Sneak out...” Alex prompted, a slight smirk on his lips for all that he didn't feel happy. 

“Yes, we did the deed,” David sighed, running his hands through his hair. “And after I was getting ready to go and... and things got serious. He...”

David's grip tightened on the cup, and Alex couldn't help it. He reached across the table and let his fingers rest on his friend's wrist. Surprisingly, David didn't recoil. 

“I'm not ready for a relationship. I'm not _ready_ for what he wanted. I'm not...”

Maybe it was a good thing, Alex thought, that everything had played out as it had. That the timing that had seemed so terrible the day before protected him now. 

“You don't have to be ready. That comes in your own time,” Alex reassured him, smiling warmly. “Don't let anyone force that on you. And hey, at least the sex was good?”

“Yeah,” David agreed, a wistful look overwhelming the pain in his expression. “Damn good.”

“It give you what you needed?” 

He watched, held his displeasure in check, as he watched David's hand go to his shoulder, to his scar, with a smile. That was different. The last time David had reacted to the scar it had been with revulsion, pain, distaste. The smile that curved his lips now was one of satisfaction, of a pleasant memory rather than a terrible one. 

“Yeah,” David agreed, his voice soft and breathy. Then he shook his head and turned his attention to Alex once again, a softer expression on his face. “So what about you? I stopped by your place after work yesterday, hoping for a bit of pick me up before I went to my ill fated date. Alexa said you were out.”

“I was called in to a meeting regarding a series of shoots I'm scheduled to do,” Alex sighed, glaring down a his food and wishing he had something different to say. “Remember how I mentioned there was going to be a trip to Australia?”

David stared at him for a long moment, frowned severely, and then Alex could see the connection, could see his eyes go wide. 

“No. No, you can't be... Dammit, Alex, you can't...” David sighed and shook his head, his fingers going to his hair to rub at it. “When? How long? I thought you said this was going to happen this winter.”

“Sunday, somewhere around the area of a month, and that was what I was told. Unfortunately I'm sort of contractually bound,” Alex sighed. 

“Seriously? Sunday?” David demanded. “You're leaving in two days?”

“A bit less to be honest. It's an early morning flight.”

“This sucks,” David groaned, shaking his head. “I... You'll keep in contact, won't you?”

“Hey, what kind of friend would I be if I left you hanging high and dry without my company?” Alex asked, chuckling. “We'll talk whenever we get the chance. Alright?”

“Yeah,” David agreed, smiling warmly.

* * * * * *

It was sitting there in the tip jar, taunting him. Tucker had insisted that they leave it, just in case David ever 'came to his senses.'

As he watched Alex leave the cafe David's hand dug into the jar and pulled out the napkin Shaun had left for him on the first day. He ignored the triumphant look Tucker shot at him, and the disapproval radiating from Connie. Instead he just went to the back room, fetched his phone out of his locker, and dialed. 

Listened to the ringing. 

Waited.

“Whatever it is, I'm not buying,” Shaun's voice snapped rather than greeted. David blamed himself for that. He deserved to be blamed for it. All he could do was think of how Shaun had been that night, naked and vulnerable in a way that he'd never experienced before, and how he hadn't said anything. It was small wonder that Shaun wouldn't be looking forward to a call from a strange number.

“Shaun,” he whispered, and he could hear the sharp intake of breath on the other end. The nervousness, the trepidation. “Missed you this morning.”

“You'll forgive me if I wasn't really ready to see you,” Shaun sighed, his voice low and pained. “I'll... fuck. I just don't...”

“I'm sorry,” David apologized, ignoring how his own voice caught on the word. “I...”

“Can we not do this right now?” Shaun asked, his voice hardening and David swallowed hard at the tone. “Because I'm not ready to be cheerful and friendly. Give me a few days, okay?”

David thought of Alex, pushing through those doors, walking out of his life. Who knew what a month would do to them, contact or not. Who knew what a month would do to _him_. And when he'd thought about that the first thing that had come to him when he tried to cheer him self up was the way Shaun had held him the night before on the couch. How easily they had laughed. How Shaun had tried so hard to keep the distance between them and prove that he wanted more. 

David wanted more. Wanted nights like that with those arms around him, wanted that man smiling at him, wanted Shaun laughing and smiling and touching him. 

“You said you'd stay there, right? That you'd wait until I figured out what I wanted?”

There was a long moment of silence, and David actually pulled the phone away from his ear to look at the display and make sure they were still connected.

“What is it you want?” Shaun asked, his response finally there, soft and hopeful and pained. 

“To see the end of that movie with you. To show you my favorite one. Maybe a night out doing whatever it is people do out here for fun. Maybe a dinner. A movie. Whatever comes from seeing each other more.”

There was no response, no response, just nothing. David gripped the phone tighter, nervous, terrified really. “Shaun...?”

“You're at the cafe right?”

“Yeah, where else would I...”

“Don't go anywhere.”

The line went dead and David was left staring at it for well over a minute. With a sigh he shoved it back into his locker and slowly shuffled back into the store proper. He went through the motions, ignored Tucker and Connie and Caboose as they asked him questions. Looked up every time the door chimed open. 

Another chime, and when he turned Shaun was moving across the cafe, straight for him. David only had enough time to finish delivering the order and set his tray aside before Shaun's arms were around him, pulling him up onto his tip toes and into a deep kiss. And it was all David could have wanted. No, it _was_ all he wanted.

And that mattered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With this I have to say thanks and I'll see you in a few weeks. Taking a break to get married and enjoy my honeymoon.


	14. Interlude One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess what’s back. If you guessed Relocation, then you would be correct. Welcome to the first of a few Interlude chapters. With the place we left our characters in Chapter 13 we sort of need to bridge some time before we can get some real advancement. To do that I bring you the beginning of a brief series of Interlude chapters. These chapters are designed to pass a pesky time period without a flat out jump, so we can see how things are developing and explore some of the other characters. These chapters will be switching back and forth between only two PoVs, and I really do hope you’ll enjoy them.

There are lot of ways it could have gone differently. Ways it might not have gone at all. For one thing Shaun could have taken care of his own shopping that day. For another he could have asked to accompany Shaun on the installation consult he had that afternoon. He could have asked David for a lift to the store instead of his ultimate decision to use the bus. 

The first would have meant he wouldn't have been there. The second would have resulted in Shaun's company and thus improper circumstances. The third could have resulted either in company—and the casual chit-chat of a budding friendship—or simply a ride and thus hurried silence in the store. 

Any number of minute differences and it might not have happened. His life would have been different in that it would have been unchanged. If he hadn't been singing. If it hadn't been Stromae, if he'd been an aisle or tow further over, or a little quieter it would have changed. He would have kept moving, kept _stagnating_ without even knowing it. He knew that. He'd thought about it a lot in the past month. 

As it was everything fit together perfectly. Circumstances dealt him the right hand at the right moment, and Daniel Lauve, known as D to his closest friend and not-quite brother, had gone all in.

* * * * * *

There were few guilty pleasures that Daniel kept as close to his chest as his love for the French singer Stromae. For one thing he knew Shaun would tease him for being fond of such music. For another it wasn't something he could share with Shaun as his friend was atrocious with languages. But he loved Stromae none the less, uploaded all his music on his iPod and dug it out whenever circumstances allowed. At the very least it gave him an opportunity to hear his native language—Daniel insisted upon seeing French as his native tongue despite his New York birth as it had been his mother's language of choice—spoken by someone who possessed the atrocious feigned accents and horrible pronunciation of high school educations. He found hearing the language spoken properly out here rare at best and non-existent in truth. 

Given the chance to be alone and listening Daniel reveled in the music. Let it flow through him and sweep him away with it's beats and familiar words. Given the chance to be alone and listening Daniel always found himself singing along, under his breath, the words falling form his lips without conscious thought. It was a habit, maybe even a compulsion. And as Daniel pulled a can of soup from the shelf to add to his basket he found himself trailing off.

_“When you finally think you'll make it, there's more and more.”_

The voice that offered the next piece of the lyrics, precisely in time with the voice coming from Daniel's earbuds, was low and rich, filled with an amusement that made Daniel turn in place and stare. What he found honestly wasn't what he expected. Then again, who ever expected a man that could have been mistaken for a more naturally colored Hulk? Well, maybe the comparison wasn't fair. Granted the man was tall enough that Daniel's eyes were even with his chin, his shoulders were as broad as a linebacker's, and his body was clearly strongly muscled—flatteringly so—under his t-shirt, but he probably would only be called hulking once in a while. 

For all that his size was intimidating, the man himself was smiling down at Daniel. It was a good look on him, or so a tiny voice in the back corner of Daniel's mind observed. The smile was wide and welcoming, almost excited, and it well suited the oval face, wide lips, and broad, flat nose. All of that was paired with an unblemished, rich soft golden brown skin tone that suggested mixed heritage and contrasted beautifully with the pristine white of his t-shirt, coat, and the plain white cap that covered his clearly shaved head. For a moment Daniel's attention was drawn to a glint of gold in the form of small disc shaped studs piercing either ear. His brown eyes were liquid warmth that laughed with his voice. 

_“You know Stromae?”_ Daniel found himself asking, delighting for just a moment in the excuse to speak French. Mostly, though, he found himself unnerved with the ease with which the man had approached him, how familiar his tone was, and just how wide that stunning smile was. 

_“So We Dance is my favorite song,”_ the man offered, the low rumble of his voice making Daniel just short of shiver. _“I could not just pass as someone sang it without comment. Especially when I have not heard well spoken French in years.”_

_“Myself either,”_ Daniel admitted, unable to help but shuffle in place and let his eyes cast around quickly. It would be too much to ask to have someone he knows walk by he supposed, to spare him interacting with the well spoken stranger. 

At the same time, though, the man held so much of Daniel's attention. How long had it been since he had called his mother and reveled in the cool liquid of her voice? How long since he heard the words come out right and find no one straining to keep up? And the man's voice, oh his voice. The basso rumble was so wonderful, and Daniel could almost feel it in his chest. 

_“I am sorry, I did not mean to make you uncomfortable.”_

_“I am not uncomfortable,”_ Daniel lied, commanding his eyes to focus on the smile the man still wore. _“I am just shocked. You do not find many people with your... ease of language out here.”_

_“Well, I am not native,”_ the man admitted with a shrug. _“I am from northern Maine...”_

Well that made sense. French was quite common in northern Maine due to the proximity of Quebec, though even then some people tended toward the more bastardized Quebecois than the purer dialect Daniel had grown up with and which the stranger was displaying.

_“Something about the way you say that makes it sound like you have quite the story,”_ Daniel observed, genuinely intrigued. Clearly he hadn't lived in Maine for a while if he hadn't heard proper French in years, but there was something about the way the man carried himself and what he was wearing that seemed strange. All his clothes looked brand new.

_“Marine corp since I was eighteen. Only recently back to civilian life. You do not really find much use for French when stationed... well, you do not find much use for French. And you? I doubt you are from Ohio.”_

_“New York City. My mother was from Lyon, though.”_

Something about that seemed to please the man, because his smile only grew. 

_“I have always been told that my accent was good enough to pass as native, so I think I will take this conversation as a compliment. The name is Nathaniel, by the way.”_

_“Daniel, and the compliment would be well founded,”_ he agreed, resisting the urge to chuckle. Resisting the urge to try and explain how nice, how _important_ it was to hear this man's voice. _“I admit I am curious as to why someone fresh out of the military would come to_ Ohio _of all places.”_

_“Family business. Some minor thing or other about a reunion coming up and how they figured it was easier to start by sending me here rather than home,”_ Nathaniel sighed, shaking his head and shoving his fists in his pockets. _“They have got me staying with my cousin. What brings you to the middle of nowhere?”_

_“Family troubles,”_ Daniel offered, his voice hard enough to hopefully not invite further questions because he was not willing to point out that they weren't even his own. Shaun's family problems just had the unfortunately side effect of complicating his own home life. 

Sure enough Nathaniel didn't press. He just gave a small shrug as if to say 'well, what can you do about it' and like that there was silence between the two of them of course it wasn't an easy silence and Daniel shuffled nervously in place and wondered how one went about politely saying that they were done talking to a total strangers. Strange that he had gotten so far in life without figuring out that skill. Then again he had hardly been able to learn it from Shaun, seeing as his friend had a way of turning almost anyone he encounter into either a friend, a conquest, or an enemy. Daniel felt quite comfortable with only dealing with one new friend at a time—and David had been firmly ensconced in that position when Shaun had revealed their possibly ill-fated romance a few nights ago—had not interest in the realm of sexual exploration Shaun prided himself upon, and frankly he had no call for the third. 

_“I know it is a bit strange of me to ask this, but would you mind keeping me company while we shop? I... it's just nice to hear someone speak my language again,”_ Nathaniel asked, and his voice was so soft, so hesitant, that Daniel found himself nodding before he could really think.

He told himself that he had done it because of the sincerity in those warm brown eyes and not because of the same strange feeling in his guy that was trying to name the exact shade of brown those eyes were.

* * * * * *

It was easy to tell himself that he was following the dark haired, emerald eyed stranger because he liked to hear French. His cousin rarely, if ever, said anything in it, even when Nate prompted him, and while he was pretty sure the 'just a friend' he'd accidentally walked in on Stephen with understood it, the man hadn't hung around long enough for Nate to question. So really, all of that mixed with the fact that it would be a week before any of their other relatives showed up for the reunion—what idiot planned it to be in Ohio, other than maybe Stephen—and it was easy to tell himself it was to hear French spoken so well and so easily that had him trailing behind this Daniel. Easy to insist that he was only interested in the words and the voice and not the demure man that housed them.

Daniel was beautiful in a way Nate hadn't seen in a long time, or maybe just one he hadn't cared to notice. It had frankly been a while since Nate had found himself looking twice at someone for a reason other than evaluating them as a potential target. His training made him notice the nervous energy around Daniel as he moved, the slenderness that didn't hide muscle in the swing of his arms and legs, the lack of confidence that spoke either of someone who was shy or upset, but also said the man had no combat training and meant him no harm. It meant he could see Daniel's sometimes furtive glances and read that Daniel wasn't prone to talking to strangers. None of his training made him notice the silky sheen to that long black hair gathered back into a tight pony tail. It didn't allow for him getting lost in the green of those eyes or the soft tenor of that voice as it caressed each word, or the smoothness of the skin on his face that said he didn't laugh or smile as much as he should. 

Nothing in his training said anything about what to do when you met a man so beautiful it was hard to breathe. Hell, his previous 'real world' experience did little to help either. He had never been good at talking to people, in part because he'd learned to express himself better in a 'foreign' language than in the unofficially official national one. 

_“Can I have your number?”_

Which probably explained why he was asking such a stupid question as they walked from the store together. Explained why he dared to ask a question that had Daniel stopping and staring at him with blatant confusion and discomfort. Explained the way Daniel's mouth was hanging open mid-goodbye, the way his eyes were wide and his whole body held itself utterly rigid. The problem was that Nate had always been more forward in French than in English. 

_“I... You...”_

_“It's been nice talking to you. Even talking about something a stupid as bell peppers has been entertaining. I was hoping we could talk again before I left town. Maybe get a beer or something.”_

Still Daniel was looking at him with something like bewildered fear on his face, and for the life of him Nate couldn't help but compare it to a deer caught in headlights. Whatever _this_ was, Daniel was by no means prepared for it. Which left it to Nate to fix the unintentional snafu he had created. 

And yet... He couldn't find it in himself to just do nothing. To let the whole thing go. Yes he wanted to fix the problem, but not by just removing it completely.

_“Do you have a pen?”_ he asked, and that at least seemed like a question Daniel was equipped to handle. Almost immediately one of his hands was diving into a pocket of his green coat—it failed to do his eyes justice—and even as Nate reached out there was a pen in his hand. He tried to smile gently as he fished his crumpled receipt out of his pocket and hastily scrawled his new cell number on the back of the paper before thrusting it and the pen out toward Daniel.

_“What's...”_ Daniel started to ask, and Nate hadn't realized his eyes could go any wider and yet they did. 

_“My number,”_ Nate offered, and his smile became a grin as Daniel took it and the pen and turned a bright shade of scarlet that offset his eyes in a stunning way. _“In case you want to talk, or grab a cup of coffee or something. My schedule is pretty open while I'm in town, so don't hesitate to call.”_

Nate didn't stay long, mostly because he didn't want to give Daniel the chance to reject... whatever this was. Didn't want his embarrassment get in the way of maybe taking Nate up on the offer sometime. So he just turned and walked away, making for the car waiting for him in the parking lot. And if he took a bit of pleasure in the way the man was still standing there when his knuckles rapped lightly on the passenger window of Stephen's car, well that was his own business. 

“What took you so long?” Stephen demanded after he had leaned across the front seat to unlock the door and Nate had gotten into the car. “Pretty sure you went in half an hour ago for your 'quick shopping trip.' I thought Marines were supposed to be efficient.”

_“Hello to you too,”_ Nate chuckled at the irate man. Maybe he would have pitied his cousin more if he hadn't been able to tell that Stephen had been sleeping when he'd gotten back. His own fault for staying up so late with the man that he hadn't even bothered to give Nate the name of.

“You know, you fought for this country. Least you can do is speak the damn language,” Stephen grumbled as he started the car. “I'm not here to be you chauffeur, so don't keep me waiting.”

“I didn't ask you to,” Nate pointed out. “Could've taken the bus.”

“Aunt Fleur would have had a field day with me ignoring you and forcing you to use public transit. So the price of the ride is this: tell me what kept you.”

All Nate could do was smile to himself as he thought about those beautiful green eyes. “I met someone.”

That earned him a scoff and an incredulous look. “You? Mister No-Social-Graces, met someone. Here. In a grocery store? Now this is something I've got to hear.”

“Not happening, Sig.”

The use of the childhood nickname earned him a contemptuous glare from Stephen, and Nate just smirked.

“Fine then. At least tell me what they looked like.”

Again Nate smiled as he thought of those intelligent green eyes and that charming voice and the perfect scarlet blush that had made it all the way to Daniel's ears. 

“Perfect.”

Stephen's eye roll was almost enough to make Nate chuckle. In fact, the only thing that kept him from it was the rumble from his pocket that announced a new text message. No one but Stephen and Nate's parents had this number; well, them and now Daniel. With his parents both at work at this hour and Stephen right next to him in the car it left only one option. Which meant Nate was grinning when he pulled his phone out and read the brief message from an unknown number.

_I like coffee_ was all it said. Yet it still gave Nate more hope than he could rightly explain. 

_You know a place?_

_Connie's Cafe, downtown on campus. Tomorrow. I'll text when I'm free._

He must have been grinning like a mad man, because when he put his phone away and looked up, his cousin was frowning at him. 

“Your mystery woman?”

“Man,” Nate both agreed and corrected. “Need another favor.”

“Of course you do,” Stephen sighed as he finally threw the car into reverse. “Finally time to go out and get you normal people clothes?”

Nate simply nodded in response. It seemed like he finally had a reason to care that he only had a few sets of fatigues and only one change of civilian clothes. It had been a while since he had cared to impress someone with how he looked. 

The fact that he cared now was a strange mix of alarming and exciting, and played right into that strange feeling that stirred in his gut every time he thought of Daniel.

* * * * * *

“I'm getting a little tired of Flowers,” Shaun called out by way of greeting when Daniel entered his apartment. A small voice in the corner of Daniel's mind was annoyed that Shaun hadn't extended him the courtesy of a proper greeting. After all they were truly raised better than that. But it was equally true that only they had keys to the building and so only they could be expected to enter without knocking. 

That being said the only reason Daniel hadn't knocked was because he had assumed Shaun to still be out on the Flowers job. 

“What did he do this time?” Daniel asked as he closed the door behind him with a push of his heel and watched Shaun's head pop up from behind the couch. He tried quite hard not to think about the fact that the last time he'd seen that motion Shaun had been lying there, naked save for a blanket he had thrown over himself, utterly destroyed by David's attempt to make their relationship nothing more than a one night stand. And, of course, he failed and had to shudder as he remembered briefly how broken his friend had been, how lifeless his eyes had seemed, and he still marveled over how Shaun had bounced back in less than a week.

“When I came in he expressed concern over the security of his air vents. Air vents! Said he needed a work up on how to upgrade his security there. First of all, he still ignores me when I tell him I'm not a security expert, and second, vents?! What the actual fuck? What kind of thief uses air vents?”

Daniel resisted the urge to chuckle or point out that Flowers had stranger things of them before. Shaun always vented after encounters with Flowers and Daniel was certain it had to do with him once mistakenly using his normal innuendo laced conversational style near Flowers and discovered the man to be not only interested, but a fan of things well outside of even Shaun's comfort zone. Daniel had resisted, then as now, a smile of satisfaction at Shaun getting a dose of his own medicine for once. 

And for some reason that made Daniel think of warm brown eyes and a disarming smile, and he felt a strange quivering in his stomach as he made for the kitchen with the bags filled with Shaun's portion of the groceries he had bought.

“Have you determined a means as of yet to satisfy his current request?” David asked as he untangled Shaun's bags from his own and placed them on the counter. Shaun could at least manage to put his own food away.

“Honestly? Not at all,” Shaun sighed as Daniel came back out of the kitchen, and he watched as his friend levered himself off of the couch. “I was thinking double recessed screws with...”

Shaun went silent and Daniel was certain his face had gone red when his cellphone rudely cut into their conversation with a brisk chime.

For another person it wouldn't have give the conversation pause. The phone either would have been ignored or reviewed. Both parties would have taken it for a given. Hell, if it had been Shaun's phone Daniel would have stood there quietly, waiting for Shaun to look at his phone, read the message and smile warmly or smirk playfully, or react in some other, obvious way to the contents. As it was this was Daniel's phone, and the only person who texted him was just across the room. 

No, not the only person, Daniel remembered, unable to hold back the blush that came with the thought of Nathaniel and Shaun's curiously quirked eyebrow as he fumbled his phone out despite the bags. Stephen and Charlotte both favored phone calls, Irene hadn't spoken to him since their awkward breakup a few years ago, and Gary preferred the impersonal touch of an e-mail. Which left...

“Who is it?” Shaun asked with a touch of wonder to his voice as Daniel smiled at the name on the screen.

“Nathaniel,” he responded simply as he made for the door, already caught up in the memory of a man and half imagining the brief message spoken in French with that deep, pleasing bass tone.

_This cafe of yours have pastries?_

_Some of the best I have had. The muffins are extremely delicious, but I have assurances on the quality of their scones._

“Who's Nathaniel?”

“Just someone I met at the store,” Daniel mumbled, not really paying attention to Shaun as he made for the apartment door. No, his attention was on the small screen on his phone and the new words that had appeared.

_Lemon bars?_

_I have never sampled them myself, but a credible source tells me they are masterful._

“'Just someone you met at the store'? How the hell does he have your number then?That isn't a 'just someone,' D,” Shaun was calling as Daniel lowered his phone long enough to reach for the apartment door. 

Shaun must have moved at some point, because before Daniel could even get the door open his friend was at his side, pushing it back closed by leaning his weight against the door. And, glare as Daniel might, the other man didn't move an inch. Instead he just looked down at Daniel, his soft gray eyes a mixture of concern and giddiness that also pulled at his lips, holding them between a smirk and a scowl that twisted his recently scarred visage in a strange way.

“I promise that were this any of your business, Shaun, or of any concern to you at all, I would have mentioned something to you. As it is, I do believe you are in my way.”

Of course that did nothing to move Shaun, but it did feel satisfying in its own way. Normally it was Shaun hinting that Daniel should stay out of his business—not that Daniel even remotely wanted to know the details of his love life—and Daniel who had to be the temperate one of the two of them. Then again that very line of thought seemed to indicate that some part of Daniel thought that he himself was being reckless or foolish, and clearly that was not a thing that was happening.

“And yet there you are, smiling down at your cellphone—which you never hand out the number to—trading texts with a strange you met while shopping. In my position, how would you react?” Shaun demanded, his expression finally settling on a compromising concerned. 

“There is a major difference between you and I, Shaun. I do not go trawling for conquests, nor do I attract those who are interested in something similar. Besides, Nathaniel is merely visiting town and desires the chance to speak with someone who speaks the same language as him.”

Shaun rolled his eyes in the way he did any time Daniel referenced French, and now us over before he was certain that the reaction derived from his repeated failures to master the language. No, more than that. His repeated failures to achieve even the most basic understanding of the language beyond counting to three despite growing up in a household where the language had been spoken with frequency. 

“Only you would manage to find a traveling Frenchman while at the store,” Shaun sighed. “But my point stands. Just because no one other than Irene has _obviously_ attempted to nail you before doesn't mean it will never happen. You just happen to be too dense to notice.”

“He isn't French,” Daniel sighed in annoyance. “He is from Maine. There is just a high number of native speakers of French in northern Maine, due in no small part to the proximity to Quebec,” he insisted, trying to ignore the new discomfort in his stomach at the memory of Irene's unwelcome advances. “And Nathaniel isn't like Irene. He just wants to have coffee with me tomorrow and talk.”

If Daniel had hoped that the attempted reassurance would comfort Shaun he had been sorely mistaken. As it was an exasperated look flashed across Shaun's face—and caught in the valleys and canyons of Shaun's scars—and his eyes rolled in annoyance.

“I'm hardly convinced, D. Listen, if the guy really does only want to have coffee and talk to you, it will be no harm at all for me to be there too. You know, as backup.”

Daniel rolled his own eyes at the twin unspoken implications of 'bodyguard' and 'wingman' and just nodded his agreement. It was easier than fighting what was clearly a losing battle. Besides, he was certain that with a little help from David he could have all the privacy he might need. Not, of course, that he saw a reason for that even as he thought of those brown eyes that were like melted chocolate and the smile so warm as to explain how said chocolate could have stayed melted and yet still find the warmth to make his cheeks burn.

* * * * * *

The cafe, Nate observed as he strolled through the doors, was done in a range of browns. The tiles on the floor were checked in a pattern of cocoa and cinnamon, the walls were painted a creamy white, and every bit of furniture from the counter before him to the padding on the chairs was a deep brown in the leather range of coloring. Even the odd assemblage of employees in their non-uniform uniforms—mostly consisting of embroidered shirts in a range of blues—all had the concession to the motif in the form of brown aprons. It was a uniform style that let him assume that the small woman who appeared from some back room in a brown shirt—and who was fuming at the gray shirted man who trailed behind her—had to be the 'Connie' that the place was named for. Or she was at least the one who ran it. 

And he must have been more nervous than he'd expected to be if he had let himself get so caught up in the décor instead of looking for the man he was here to meet. Really the first thing he should have done upon entering should have been searching for a familiar sight of green in the mess of brown. Instead he found himself looking around for something else, some easy to find thing that would distract him from the very real possibility that Daniel wouldn't be here, or that this wouldn't be a thing, or that the strange feeling in his gut whenever he had thought about Daniel since meeting him the day before really was what he thought it was. Lord knew the last few times he had reached for that last thing had all but blown up in his face. 

Still, Daniel had texted as he'd promised, he had given Nate more than ample instructions on how to get here, and sure enough when Nate let his eyes wander toward the back corner booth he found the spot of green he had been promised. It took a lot not to grin as he made his way toward the booth, more to only smile gently when Daniel looked up and those perfect green eyes met his gaze unflinchingly, and a godly amount not to melt at the hesitant smile Daniel greeted him with when he reached the booth and slid in across from him. 

_“I see my directions were sufficient,”_ Daniel observed as Nate let himself get comfortable on the surprisingly well padded seat. 

_“More than,”_ Nate agreed as he watched those long, slender fingers fish a menu out from behind a napkin dispenser to push at him. _“Granted I almost got lost trying to get out of my cousin's apartment but...”_ He shrugged and smiled and let himself focus on the pastry menu.

_“If you will forgive the observation, you look more... restrained today than you did yesterday. I think that the knit cap is a particularly nice touch.”_

Nate smiled as he looked up from the menu, and the faint smirk that caught at the corner of Daniel's lips could have been a weapon for how Nate froze at the sight of it. Somehow he managed to tear himself from his reaction to raise his hands to the hat—a strange mixture of white halved with a golden yellow along a gentle slope through the main body of the cap—to tug it more centered on his head. 

_“Went well with the sweatshirt,”_ Nate explained rolling his shoulders to emphasize said white sweatshirt that was pristine and new and _totally_ more of a concession to the fact that he had no clothes suited to fall in the Midwest than his desire to impress the man across from him. Stephen had sighed at the lack of color it presented when paired with his new beige cargo pangs, and how starkly the color seemed to stand out against his darker skin tone, but the clear approval in Daniel's eyes won the argument in Nate's opinion. 

_“A reasonable criteria for selection of any garment,”_ Daniel observed, a gentle smile barely curving his lips as he sipped at the coffee before him. Nate wished he could just sit there and bask in that faint smile, revel in it. Instead he let his attention fall back to the menu. 

_“My cousin didn't think so,”_ Nate observed as his eyes skimmed and found what he wanted. _“He thinks I dress too plainly.”_

_“Well, I respectfully disagree,"_ Daniel insisted, and the words were warm and maybe with a hint of playfulness and when Nate looked back up, hoping to get a glimpse of the expression that went with the tone he found his attention dragged away by a new voice entering the conversation. 

_“Good afternoon, Daniel. Can I get you two anything?”_ the man in the gray shirt Nate had noticed earlier asked from the end of their booth. Nate spared a moment to look more closely at him, to consider the short blond hair that easily could have been battle or natural, the sharp green eyes that did nothing to rival Daniel's and...

And there was something in the man's stance that Nate couldn't tear his attention from. A tension in his shoulders, the distance he kept himself from the table, and the way his eyes darted every now and then toward Nate. It was a tension Nate was all too familiar with. One that in another moment he would have immediately addressed. As it was he'd have to deal with it later, when he could get the man alone.

_“You speak French, David?”_ Daniel asked, shock clear in his voice. _“I was unaware.”_

_“Same here,”_ this David responded, and while his voice lacked the clear, soft accent Daniel had, he still sounded quite comfortable with the language. Yet the fact that Nate didn't find his heart skipping a beat when he heard David speak only solidified his theory of why his stomach fluttered when Daniel spoke. _“Anyway, can I get you two anything?”_

_“My usual, and a promise that you talk to Shaun in French. He hates it.”_

There was a flash of a self-satisfied smirk on David's face before his attention turned to Nate and the tension was back in his stance. 

_“And you?”_

_“Lemon bar, green tea,”_ Nate responded resisting the urge to reach out and confront that tension. Instead he waited for David to walk off before returning his attention to Daniel and reveling in the smile that looking at the other man prompted in him. 

_“You know the employees here?”_

_“I am something of a regular. Typically twice a day most weekdays, almost as frequently on the weekends. But David is... a friend, or nearly such.”_

There was a strange weight to those words that Nate wanted to focus on, but he brushed the urge to pursue it aside as Daniel leaned forward in his seat and smiled. 

_“Your messages caused me some trouble last night.”_

_“Trouble?”_ Nate questioned, blinking in confusion and not letting his eyes catch on the few strands of hair that had fallen out of Daniel's tail at some point and dangled before his eyes just for a moment before Daniel swept them back over his ear with an unthinking push. 

_“My best friend is... quite protective of me. Needless to say he wasn't quite so impressed with me going to meet a stranger for coffee today.”_

Nate shrugged and chuckled at the memory of how Daniel had reacted to his request for the other man's number. In his position, with a friend like Daniel, he might have been concerned as well. As it was he was glad that whoever this friend was had been willing to let Daniel go and meet a relative stranger all on his own. 

_“My cousin had a... similar reaction to your messages to me. Granted he didn't have any concern about me meeting you for coffee, but that may have to do with the fact that I know at least five ways to kill a man with just my left hand.”_

_“Only five?”_

_“I was out sick on the second day where we learned another six.”_

_“Ah, yes, that would explain the poor number of methods you would possess,”_ Daniel chuckled, and the sound was musical and with it Nate was absolutely certain of what he had only suspected before. 

Not that the realization really helped him know just how to handle the fact that he was starting to fall in love with someone.

Of course the realization went a long way toward explaining other things. Like how two hours seemed to pass without him really noticing anything but Daniel's voice, Daniel's eyes, the curve of Daniel's cheek bones, the way Daniel stirred his coffee without paying attention to it while he spoke, and all those sorts of tiny details. It explained how they went so long without either of them checking the time, caught up in pointless conversation like the weather here or their favorite musicians or why they preferred coffee over tea and vice versa. It even went so far as to explain why Nate could just faintly feel his cheeks aching from smiling too much, and how he could see Daniel flinch every time he smiled anew from what had to be soreness in his own muscles. 

So, of course, when the cellphone chiming briskly from Daniel's side of the table broke into their conversation about the value of a good coat in an Ohio fall—anything and everything sounded interesting from Daniel's voice—Nate wanted to send the thing sailing across the cafe, never to be heard from again. As it was, he held back and waited as Daniel blushed and dug the offending electronic device out of his pocket. His gaze hardened on the little screen and Nate let his attention turn to the chiming of the cafe door and his eyes catch the sight of a man with brown hair and a tan coat rushing out before he returned his attention to Daniel.

_“Something up?”_ he asked as Daniel bit at his lip nervously. 

_“I... It seems something has come up with the business I help run. I... Fuck, I have to go.”_

_“Wait, what...”_

Except Daniel was already free of the booth, looking around quickly as if searching for something he might be leaving. Everything in Nate screamed to wave at Daniel and insist that he was what the man was leaving behind. Instead he just sat there as Daniel seemed to grow more frantic, more certain, and Daniel just shook his head and strode off. 

He didn't even say goodbye. 

Worse, Nate realized with a sigh as he reached for his wallet, he hadn't even thought to leave anything for their bill. 

_“I can kill Shaun for you if you want,"_ a voice offered from the end of the table and Nate stared up at the gray clad waiter that he remembered being named David. The man shook his head, his eyes flashing with pity, as he put another steaming mug of tea and a plate with a lemon bar down before Nate. 

_“Who is Shaun?”_

_“My asshole boyfriend, Daniel's best friend, and the inconsiderate ass who just accidentally sent your date off at a run,”_ David explained, hands on his hips as he shook his head. _“I promise he probably had no intention of causing that, but he may not be the best at thinking his actions through.”_

_“It was not a date,”_ Nate responded, mostly because it hadn't been, not because he hadn't wanted it to be. 

_“Yeah. Tell yourself that. Do us both a favor and be good to him. Daniel is pretty poorly equipped to understand what is going on, so he will need a lot of time and patience. I will do my best to keep Shaun at bay. But if you hurt D, if you so much as make him cry, I will find a way to ruin you. Understand?”_

Nate couldn't help but smile at the threat. It was nice to see that people cared enough about Daniel to try and threaten him, not that he really felt threatened by this man. 

_“Understood. But in return I expect something from you...”_

David raised a careful eyebrow and Nate didn't like the way his body tensed up all over again. It went a long way to solidifying another one of Nate's suspicions, and he hated that one more than he liked the other. 

_“I hardly think you have a place to expect anything but reasonable service from me.”_

_“Be that as it may, you need to either find yourself a support group or someone to talk to. It is a hell of a lot easier to handle when you have someone there to back you up.”_

The rigidness got worse and Nate just sighed. He pulled a napkin from the nearby dispenser, pulled a pen from his pocket, and quickly jotted down some notes. A place. A time. A number. 

_“What are you doing?”_ David demanded, a sharpness that Nate couldn't begin to explain to his voice. 

_“The first thing I did coming into town was find myself a meeting. Mainly deals with PTSD in enlisted men, but they will take anyone. There and then. And if that doesn't work, the phone number is mine. Talking might not make it better, but it makes it easier.”_

The way that David stared at him, eyes huge and pained, said everything Nate needed to know. Or at least everything he was certain he was going to get for now. 

“I... You... How...?” David mumbled, slipping into English in his clear shock.

_“You get used to seeing it in the mirror,”_ Nate explained, pushing himself to his feet and ignoring the way David moved further back than he really needed to. _“What do I owe you?”_

“Don't worry about it. I'll just put it on Shaun's bill.”

Nate shrugged and tucked his wallet back into his pocket before heading for the door. There were things he could be doing, like distracting himself from the fact that Daniel had bolted without even saying goodbye. 

“Wait... What's your name?” David's voice called after him. 

“Nate,” he called back, letting the chime of the door carry him out into the chilly city streets.


	15. Interlude Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am back. Updates every Monday if I can help it! <3

“Okay, but seriously… what the hell are you doing here?”

Daniel looked up from his thoughts as much as the sidewalk and gave Shaun a sideways look. “Excuse me?”

“Out here,” Shaun answered, his hands waving around them to try and take in the city around them with a simple gesture. “As in not in the cafe, talking to big, bald, and smiling?”

Daniel rolled his eyes at that question. “You said there was…”

“I said I was handling it,” Shaun sighed and Daniel felt like it was supposed to be a commentary on his presence. Which Daniel didn’t quite understand the necessity of. “Which meant you could stay and flirt with your stranger.”

“I was not flirting with Nathaniel,” Daniel protests, and he was pretty certain that he was right. Flirting led to things Daniel did not want and was certain he never would. All of which meant Daniel had not been flirting. 

“Face it, you just ran out of a date because old man Flowers is being a pain. Again.”

“D-date?” Daniel demanded, coming to a halt to stare at his friend in horror. “It wasn’t a date. You know that. It was making someone feel a touch more at home while getting to practice my native language.”

“And those dreamy eyes you were shooting him?” Shaun cooed, clearly playful, as he stopped to stare at his best friend. 

“I was not!” Daniel snapped, crossing his arms over his chest. He liked to think the gesture was because of the chill in the air and not because he was being defensive. “You couldn’t even see my eyes from where you were.” 

“No, but as your very bestest friend, I have the power to see into your heart!” Shaun announced triumphantly before starting forward again. Daniel had no choice but to continue with him or concede the argument. Not, of course, that he saw standing around flabbergasted as losing, for all that Shaun would and had in the past. 

“Keep this up,” Daniel threatened as he caught up with Shaun, “and I’ll find a way to make your time with David very awkward.”

“As if you could!” 

“All I’d have to do is tell him your name, right?”

This time it was Shaun’s freezing that paused their advance toward their shop-slash-home. Shaun’s pausing and turning to look at Daniel with shock and betrayal in his eyes. Daniel refused to be moved, though, not by this. 

“You wouldn’t,” Shaun gasped. 

“Would I not, Mister Cu…”

The hand that slapped over his mouth made Daniel smile. Being from Seattle, David might not understand the significance of the name, but Daniel knew more than so many other ever would about Shaun. That came from being raised together, of course. Came from so many years of trust and connection and from what faith they had in each other. To give Shaun’s name up would be like a betrayal, and now Daniel was putting this teasing about Nathaniel on the same level as such a deep harm to his best friend. Clearly Shaun was astonished, and maybe, Daniel thought, he had a reason to be. 

“I promise, D, I’ll behave,” Shaun assured him at last, “but you have to agree not to say the name, okay?”

When Daniel noded in agreement the hand was gone, and again the pair started forward, this time in silence. Still, he had to wonder just why he had left the cafe so quietly. Hadn’t Shaun’s text been clear enough? Why take it as a prompt to leave when Daniel’s only real interactions with Flowers were when he ordered things for the man and sent invoices along? Why in the world had he left Nathaniel hanging like that? Had he been looking for a way out? Should he apologize? 

With that thought in mind and silence from Shaun, Daniel pulled out his cellphone to compose a proper apology. 

_Sorry to leave so quickly, Nathaniel. As I said, something came up and now I realize that it’s not so urgent as I had first assumed. That being said, there is still work to be done so I fear leaving was for the best._

There, that should cover everything. Still, it did leave Daniel feeling a little bit like he’d let Nathaniel down. Which was weird. It wasn’t like he had any obligation to the other man, just the time they had spent together. Just thinking of the conversation made Daniel smile, and he was quite aware of that smile. While it wasn’t strange for Daniel to smile, but he knew he was serious enough that to have one prompted by conversation with a stranger was an oddity. One that he thought he might like. Just thinking about Nathaniel made his chest strangely warm. Or perhaps his scarf and coat were warmer than necessary today. 

When his phone chimed cheerfully Daniel could not help but smile all the wider at the speed of the response. Apparently he wasn’t the only one eager to continue their conversation. Or was believing that a touch too presumptuous? Still, he managed to ignore Shaun’s chuckle as he pulled his phone back out to look at the message. 

_It’s okay. David explained everything. Put it on your friend’s tab. Think we can do it again sometime?_

For a moment Daniel stared at the message, trying to process the offer it contained. 

“What’s got you so distracted this time, D?” 

Daniel almost had to jump when he found his best friend’s hand on his elbow, holding him in place. Of course once he looked up the reason for that became obvious. Rather than Shaun attempting to peek at his phone as Daniel had irrationally feared, Shaun had stopped him from running right into the door of their little business. Immediately Daniel flushed with embarrassment, shaking his head. How was it possible that he could be so distracted as to not be aware of where they had gotten? Normally he was quite adept at maintaining spacial awareness, and yet here he was, lost in his own mind. 

“Apparently I forgot to pay David back at the cafe,” Daniel answered, rather than asking the question that was really burning in his head: did Nathaniel really desire additional time with him, or was the man merely being polite? 

“Oh D,” Shaun groaned as he let go of Daniel’s arm and moved to unlock the door of the shop for them. “How could you do something so silly? Poor guy probably had to…”

“David put it on your tab,” Daniel cut in, deciding to do away with the slightly teasing edge to his best friend’s voice then and there. That should temper his amusement some. 

“What!?” Shaun demanded, clearly horrified by the outcome. “Why the hell would he…?”

“I believe he connected my abrupt, and forgetful, exit to your own departure. As such he blamed the thing on you and decided to put the bill at your feet.”

“Does he think I’m made of money?” Shaun sighed, holding the door open for Daniel. “Okay, so maybe there are arguments to be made for it, but come on, super not fair.”

“Complain to your boyfriend,” Daniel chuckled, heading for the counter. He carefully unwound the scarf he was wearing and hung it and his coat up on the hooks Shaun had put in just a few weeks ago. They had discovered that the reason the shop was always so cold was because whoever had put in the old hooks had placed them right over a heating vent, meaning the thing was nearly always blocked in the fall and winter months. For the used bookstore this place had once housed that probably hadn’t been too much of a problem. Too much of Shaun’s work relied on his hands being warm and nimble, though, and they had remedied the issue the second they realized it existed. 

“You can bet I will,” Shaun assured him. “We’re doing movies in my apartment tonight, so you better bet I’m going to needle him about it. What about you, going to talk more to your French-speaking stranger?” 

Right, the text message, the question. Somehow Daniel had nearly forgotten the thing. 

“Does it bother you that I have a friend you can’t eavesdrop on?”

The look of feigned pain on Shaun’s face was almost precious. “Daniel, would I ever spy on you?” 

“Perhaps,” Daniel chuckled, heading for the back room. There were invoices and itemized receipts to send out, and he always tried to do an inventory check after Shaun had visited Flowers, so he should probably get onto that task now. Not that he couldn’t steal a chance to message Nathaniel with a confirmation first. His work more than allowed for that. 

An electronic chime announced the opening of the shop’s door, and as one Daniel and Shaun turned to look at the door. The woman there looked quite distraught, and immediately Shaun was moving to greet her. That expression usually meant one of two things: the woman had either locked herself out of her car or her house. Either way Shaun’s gallant streak demanded that he see to the woman now. And as it was their policy never to leave the front unattended, Daniel just pulled his work laptop out of the backroom and set it up on the counter. Inventory could wait. When Shaun turned back to him Daniel was already tossing his friend’s coat and the go-bag with his gear toward him. 

By the time Shaun and the woman were gone, the message he had intended to send had completely fled Daniel’s mind.

* * * * * *

“If you don’t get off the couch soon, I’m going to assume you died and call animal control to get your fucking bear sized ass out of my apartment.”

Nate doesn’t even bother to dignify Stephen’s tantrum by looking up from his book. Maybe he would have had his cousin bothered to come up with a new insult in the last several hours. But over and over it had been the same pathetic one since Nate had gotten back to the apartment he was crashing in around noon. Granted that was nearing on nine hours ago and Nate had gotten up and moved around for meals, but other than that, he had pretty much claimed his cousin’s couch with little change in status other than bathroom breaks. Nine hours that he’d been flipping through old celeb magazines and watching episode after episode of an A-Team marathon on cable. If he really thought about it, then yes, the position was a bit pathetic, but seeing as Stephen had only been home for about three hours, Nate was nowhere near willing to admit that out loud.

Nor, it seemed, was Stephen about to give up the fight this pass. As Nate watched he could see thoughts flying behind his cousin’s too bright hazel eyes, and then, resolution. Even as the younger man started to move, Nate forcefully exhaled and so found himself not as stunned as his cousin flopped down onto his stomach. Asshole.

“Come on, tell me about it. Your mystery man stand you up or something?” Stephen asked, and there was actually a gentleness to his voice that made Nate toss the year old magazine to the side. With a gesture Stephen was off of his stomach and after a few moments of shifting and shoving, Nate had propped his back against an armrest and Stephen was on the far-side of the couch with Nate’s feet in his lap. Stephen didn’t look entirely happy with the change in position, and Nate got why. There had to be a concern that if his cousin returned to his normal flippant self he might get kicked in a very painful place. But Nate wasn’t the same person he was when they were kids, not even remotely. Wouldn’t be honorable to turn Sig into a soprano for a few hours, even if he was a little asshole.

Besides, there was an understanding concern in those eyes that told Nate that, maybe this time, it was safe to talk about this frankly. Good thing too, he had been stewing in his own mind for hours.

“He was there,” Nate said once he was certain that both of them were settled. “We had a nice long talk. It was so good to hear someone that sounded like home so…”

“Ah, French,” Stephen rolled his eyes. “Dude, most people you find in this part of the states isn’t going to be ready to have a real, in-depth, and competent conversation in French. It’s just the way it is. The accents are all atrocious. I can’t even handle Gary’s attempts at it.”

Well, there was a revelation. Apparently Stephen missed it to some degree as well. Not surprising. Back home the whole neighborhood spoke it. English was something you used outside of the community, at school, with people who weren’t part of that amazingly tightly woven fabric of your life. Perhaps Stephen just found it easier to cut himself off from it rather than long for what he’d left behind. Then again, had Stephen ever really fit in back home? It had been clear really early on that his cousin was an actual artistic genius, not to mention highly intelligent. So asking him to try and fit in with his parent’s expectations that he take over the family store just hadn’t sat right with Stephen. And so here the other man was, far away from home and the sort brotherhood that Nate had easily found in the Marines. Poor guy.

“Well, this guy speaks it perfectly,” Nate sighed, shaking his head. Maybe his cousin caught something in that, because Nate could see a glimmer of interest in his eyes.

“So what happened?”

“He bolted early,” Nate admitted, and yeah, he could hear his own disappointment in his voice.

“Maybe he found your beanie visually offensive.”

Nate pulled said white and yellow headgear off of his head and flung it at his cousin, sparking an unexpected burst of giggles as Stephen knocked it away.

“You look like a giant snowbank wearing jeans,” Stephen continued, and it took all Nate had to not sit up straighter to lean across and tickle his cousin. He knew the other man was particular weak around the ribs, but as Nate wasn’t ticklish at all it wouldn’t be sporting of him.

“Nothing like that,” Nate rolled his eyes, running his hand over his buzz-short hair. “His friend and co-worker was there, and some work emergency or other came up…”

“So you’re pining over your date going AWOL with his boyfriend?”

A chill tore through Nate, one he couldn’t quite understand, and he stared at Stephen in shock. Could it be that…? No, it really couldn’t. There was too much honesty in Daniel, too much genuine feeling and sincerity and all those similar words for Daniel to lie like that. So Nate shook his head, trying to dismiss his cousin’s suspicions.

“The waiter told me that it was just business,” Nate explained softly, because for some reason it was important to get his cousin to not only understand, but accept this.

“Waiter has to be a friend of your mystery man or mystery man’s boyfriend,” Stephen countered. “Covering for them, you know?”

“The waiter is dating said supposed boyfriend.”

With a sigh Stephen shook his head and pushed Nate’s feet from his lap so he could stand up. “So, what’s the big deal then? Guy walked out. You have his number. Just call him or something.”

And there, of course, was the problem. All of this time and still he had no response on what fell like an all important question. Never before this had he been so caught up in waiting for something. But it was what it was, and he was not going to nag Delta. At best he’d ask again later. But not yet. Otherwise he’d seem too desperate.

Desperate for what, he didn’t know.

“Already texted him. Just waiting for an answer.”

Once more Stephen rolled his eyes. “You make no sense. I don’t care if you were taught to be patient in the military or something. Real life? Life with people around? It’s too chaotic for you to wait for what you want, Nathaniel. Besides, it’s not like you’re going to be in town forever, man. Make the move while you can.”

The move? Nate shook his head. That wasn’t something he did. It’s just the company, he told himself. The company of a perfect and beautiful man and…

Yeah, he’s gone, isn’t he? Strange to think how long it had been since he’d felt something like this, met someone as interesting as Daniel. But there was nothing he could do about that right now, so he just reached for the magazine again as Stephen retreated to the bedroom and continued reading nonsense stories.

When his phone rang Nathaniel almost fell off the couch in his eager fumbling for the device. The unknown number upset him for half a second until he considered it could be a land line, and with a smile on his lips he answered. The only people that had this number, after all, were family members who were programmed into it, Stephen’s friend Gary, Daniel and…

“Hey,” a nervous voice greeted that was most definitely not Daniel’s. Which could only mean one thing.

“David,” Nate greeted, pushing himself back up onto the couch and finally into a sitting position. “What can I do for you?”

“There’s a bar, back where the cafe was. Three storefronts up from it. Can… can you meet me there?”

There was a trembling in his voice that Nate knew from too much personal experience, and he tucked the phone next to his shoulder as he grabbed for his boots.

“What’s the name of the place and how will I find you when I get there?”

“It’s called Fly By. I’ll be at the bar. As soon as you can?”

Nate grunted his agreement as he shoved his foot into a boot. “Be there as soon as I can. Don’t drink too much, okay?”

There was a small affirmative noise and then the line disconnected.

All thoughts of Daniel were driven from Nate’s mind as he rushed through the door.

* * * * * *

It wasn’t that Daniel had routines that he lived by. Well, okay, maybe he did, but there were some traditions that helped clear his mind when weird things were going on in his life. Those routines had taken on a new level of important these last two weeks. Everything that had been going on with Shaun since David had started at Connie’s had seemed like a sprint toward some sort of finish line that Daniel couldn’t begin to envision. It was as if the man was a catalyst in their lives, pushing everyone around him in new directions. A new energy source in a previously closed system that had woke Shaun from the revere he’d been stuck in since everything that had happened with Charlotte.

And so there was a place in Daniel’s life for the ease of routine, both in his mornings and in his evenings. Thursdays, for instance, had a pretty consistent flow. Shopping done for the week, he came straight home on Thursdays and turned the heat down on the slow-cooker that held his dinner (and left-overs for lunch) before taking a nice shower. After that it was pre-made bread in the oven to rise and warm while he took a half a glass of wine to the living room and stretched out on the couch with a good book. When dinner was done he would put away the extras and clean the kitchen to some classical music. Then it was the other half of his nightly glass of red wine, the couch, and his book until it was time to sleep. It was a routine that hadn’t been interrupted for more or less three months now, and Daniel was shocked by the flash of irritation that went through him when he heard a cursory knock on his apartment door before it was opening.

Still, knowing Shaun had a date with David tonight found Daniel sitting up straight and setting his wine glass aside. He found just enough time to finish this movement before Shaun, sans shoes and with the off-gold micro-fleece Daniel had given him for Christmas last year wrapped around his shoulders, entered the living room. Daniel needed only one glimpse of his friend’s face to see the pain there, and without speaking he gently patted the space on the couch next to him. Permission given Shaun rushed to his side, grabbing a spare cushion from a chair to place in Daniel’s lap. Then Shaun was stretched out on the couch, his head on the cushion in Daniel’s lap. The silence between them was heavy, but no so much that Daniel didn’t understand the source of it. Nor did he fail to understand what his friend needed.

Slowly his fingers stroked and tugged through Shaun’s short hair. For all the years that Shaun professed he was a dog person, Daniel had no doubt that his friend was cat deep inside. There was too much comfort, too much pleasure, from the gentle stroking of his hair, too often Shaun seemed to rumble with joy at the touch. And now it was clear his friend was taking the comfort at face value. After all, had he not done this a number of times in the past for Shaun? After Charlotte, after the battle Shaun had gotten into with his family, after both a girl named Cheryl and a guy named Jackson had rejected Shaun’s asking them to junior prom. Comfort shared like this was just another part of who they were to each other, and Daniel had long since learned that prompting his friend for an explanation early would only shut him up for longer.

“I had a date tonight,” Shaun said, a statement that was quite needless as Daniel had been well aware. If that hadn’t been true Daniel would have gone downstairs to deliver Shaun’s portion of the pot roast. He had, of course, assumed that David and Shaun would figure out their own meal, and Daniel hadn’t wanted to interfere or intrude. Still, Shaun approached this the way he needed, and Daniel waited.

“Didn’t go well,” Shaun said just as needlessly. “He… he ran out.”

For a moment Daniel’s fingers stopped their attentive stroking. That didn’t sound like David, from his understanding. Then again, had Daniel not been torn away from last week’s highly irregular poker game with Gary and Stephen by David fleeing that date as well? If this was going to become something of a habit from David, Daniel was going to have to deal with the man before he could truly tear apart Daniel’s best friend. Still, the statement begged a response from Daniel by tone alone, and he had to oblige.

“What happened?” he prompted quietly, his fingers taking up their duty again.

“I don’t even know,” Shaun admitted, his voice a whisper of its own. “Maybe I said or did something wrong but…”

“But?”

The sigh was a weighty thing, like all the pains in the world could be condensed into one, sorrowful noise. “It seemed to be going well, you know? One moment we were watching the movie, and then we got… well, things escalated like they do. That guy seems starved for affection, and when he kissed me, like hell I was going to pass up the opportunity to…”

“Was he as interested in the making out as you were?” Daniel asked, because god help him, no matter how bad it got he would never be interested in a play by play. The implication was enough, anyway, for him to determine the when of what had gone wrong, if not the what.

“Yeah, he was D,” Shaun insisted. “I’d never continue something like that if the other person wasn’t enjoying it just like me. It’d be wrong. It was just so abrupt. One moment he’s kissing me like it’s the only way to satisfy some fire in him, the next he’s pushed away and he’s fleeing for the door. Completely sudden, completely unsignaled. What did I do wrong?”

Daniel’s teeth worried at his lip as he considered this question. What was it that Shaun could have done to so markedly upset his boyfriend? Not that either of them had figured out what had prompted last week’s difficulties between them. But hadn’t things seemed to be going well since they ‘officially’ became a thing last Friday? Shaun had seemed overjoyed since the apologies, and to an observer like Daniel things had seemed to be going well. If only he better understood how things like this even worked. Not that Daniel had ever found himself interested in the attentions people seemed to give to each other in the name of romance. A makeout session seemed strange and unnerving to Daniel, and yet here he was, forced to consider how Shaun had gone wrong.

“What was going on with the movie?” he asked, keeping the desperation out of his voice. Maybe there would be a hint there.

“Huh? Oh, it was another action flick, this time. Another favorite of mine. It was about these mafiosos who are trying to take out their own side so they can come to power. We’d just reached the part where…”

The sudden silence from Shaun, the stillness to his previously trembling body was something that Daniel couldn’t explain at all. He’d expected to be able to buy himself five or ten minutes to think while Shaun gave him a disturbingly deep synopsis of the film, not to mention an analysis of why the film is important to the industry and other things that are, in Daniel’s opinion, far from interesting. To have him pause like this, to have Shaun frozen and not indulge himself in his favorite hobby could only mean that something had occurred to Shaun.

“Oh,” Shaun said at last, his voice low and shocked. Yet filled with understanding. “Huh. I… Hmmm. I think I need to think, D.”

Ah, that point then. As Shaun lifted his head Daniel slipped out, picking up his glass of wine.

“Beer or…?”

“Beer,” Shaun answered before Daniel could finish the question. “And do you have any of that marble rye bread of yours?”

“Yes, you can have a pot roast sandwich,” Daniel chuckled as he walked toward the kitchen. Nothing like a bad mood to make Shaun hungry. But it wasn’t like the treat would take him long to make, so he didn’t begrudge it.

It wasn’t until Daniel sent Shaun back downstairs at eleven and after a number of beers, that he noticed his cellphone sitting on the coffee table. Some part of him may have been aware of it before that, but only when he was tidying up before bed did he realize that he hadn’t reached back out to Nathaniel as he had intended to so many hours ago at work. But now it was too late. Surely the man would be sleeping, and Daniel would not disturb that.

What harm could come from leaving the conversation until tomorrow?

* * * * * *

The thing about a cry for help is that, when you get there, you expect to actually be helping. Or so Nathaniel had expected when he’d gotten that freaked out phone call from David nearly forty-five minutes from now. Despite being on foot he’d managed to make it to the bar in about twenty minutes, but that came from the sort of shape that Marines were kept in, a level of fitness Nate hadn’t neglected in his short time out of the service. Finding David hadn’t been any real challenge either, as crowds had long since learned to part for a man of his size looking like he had somewhere to be. What had hindered his efforts was the silence that had settled over him and David in the last fifteen minutes. Slowly, and silently, the two sipped the beers the bartender had provided without them asking, and while David stared down at his own, at the bar, at his hands, at pretty much anywhere that Nate wasn’t, Nate just watched the other man quietly.

Sometimes it was hard to open up, to talk about the things that were really bothering them. It was harder, he knew, when there were people around. But if this was where David felt safe, then Nate wasn’t going to question that. Patience, in the end, would be better for them both than it possibly could be if Nate pried before David was ready.

“I shouldn’t have come here,” David whispered at last, and Nate could easily read the tension in the set of his shoulders as the other man said it. Whether it was from the environment, the situation, or that bone deep weariness that came when you knew you wanted to talk about it and couldn’t find the words, Nate didn’t know. Not that he didn’t have his suspicions as to which it was. “This is just foolish. I didn’t mean to…”

“Hey,” Nate cut him off, reaching out to put a light hand on David’s back. “I don’t know what happened, and I don’t care. All I know is that you need someone here, whether you want to talk to them or not. And I’m offering.”

At last David looked up at him, his eyes so pained, and his face looking so young under his clearly bleached hair, that it took all Nate had not to reach out and hug the man. There was no way he was going to violate personal space more than he already had. David needed his own pace. That was how you dealt with a pain so deep as David seemed to have.

“Come on,” Nate said, his voice relatively soft as he stood. “You clearly don’t want to be in this bar tonight. So let me make sure you get home, how does that sound?”

There was a softening of his expression, and that was a relief in and of itself. Soon the man was standing and they had made their way outside. In silence they made their way to David’s car, and when the other man gestured, Nate just got in with him. The only noise is the engine and the slow slide of the windshield wipers David turned on to combat the scattering of rain. But it’s a silence that said there was more to come, as soon as they had a chance. Clearly David needed the support that Nate was offering, and it was too late to take the offer back, even if he wanted to, which he didn’t.

Soon enough the two of them were settled onto a couch in an apartment that still had that pristine sort of look, and David was passing him a bottle of mediocre beer. Still the silence held, lingered there until they were halfway through their drinks. Still, the tension was there. But slowly it was melting away, replaced by the strength and confidence the bottle always seemed to give.

“How…” David started, and the word trailed off into emptiness until there was silence once more. This one was lighter, filled with potential. Another half of the bottle and finally David spoke, really spoke. “When something happens and you just feel sick to your stomach and like you need to run…?”

“How do you deal?” Nate asked. When the other man nodded, Nate just sighed and reached up to run his hand over his buzzed hair again. Finding the way to explain it had never been easy for him, and talking wasn’t really his thing either. But putting it into words was something he had to figure out how to do for David’s sake. “It’s not easy,” he admitted. “Some days you just feel like you’re too sensitive to it. What it is, what I’m told it is, is that sometimes the things going on around push the trauma back out of the lowest reaches of our mind. Pushes it to the fore of our subconscious so that it doesn’t matter how okay we are, it sneaks up on us. One wrong word, sound, smell even, opens it all up again.”

“You’d think the wounds would scab over,” David muttered, his hand coming up to massage his shoulder.

“Time,” Nate answered, looking back down to his bottle of beer. “Or so they tell me at the meetings. What you need to learn for yourself is what sorts of things might make it harder for you to handle things, and figure out if there is a good chance that, in a given situation or location, you’re more at risk. More likely to be hurt.”

“What is it for you?” David asked, his voice a whisper.

Again Nate looked up to look at David, and he found the man’s gaze distant, his fingers massaging a place on his shoulder. There was something about that, something that carried a weight that reinforced what Nate had seen earlier. The hesitance, the nerves, the way he shied away from Nate. It scared him so much, where his mind went with that information, and he wouldn’t let himself think too deeply on it. It wasn’t his place.

“IED hit a convoy I was protecting,” Nate admitted after finishing his own beer. His fingers tingled with a hundred thousand pinpricks. When he left he’d have to call a cab, but that was a concern for later. “Loud noises get to me, like with a lot of soldiers. I’m not looking forward to the Fourth of July, truth be told.”

It earned him a pitying look, but Nate just chuckled at it, shaking his head. “I’m dealing with it, I’m learning. That’s what the session is for. It’s also why I’m not exactly big on bars for the moment. Too much potential for sudden, loud noises. The cafe is better.”

David chuckled right back. “Yeah, Connie does a damn good job at keeping things calm there. You’re always welcome there.”

There was a finality of that statement that made Nate start to rise.

“It’s getting late,” he pointed out, and David nodded to him. “I should…”

“You’re welcome to crash on my couch.”

Nate stared at the other man in shock from the statement. And then, he realized, it made sense for David to offer. Worked up as he might be, the other man might have nightmares, and even if you weren’t willing to talk about them, it was more comforting to have someone there. Just to know you weren’t alone. That you were safe. If he could offer that sort of security to the man’s rest, Nate would give it.

“I can give you a lift to the cafe in the morning, and I assume you can get home from there.”

Nate nodded, and soon enough there were pillows and a blanket in his arms. Silence once more dominated as David retreated to his room for the night and Nate stretched out on the surprisingly long enough couch. Slowly he emptied his pockets of wallet, phone, keys. Of course his eyes went to his phone, as silent now as it had been during the last time he had been waiting for Daniel’s call or text or whatever. STill nothing. Better not to get caught up in it, then. Determined not to think about it, he closed his eyes and willed himself to sleep.

His dreams were filled with the scent of coffee and a soft smile and green eyes that radiated warmth and joy as he laughed. He dreamed of reaching across the table and laying his hand over the smaller one, and he hoped it wouldn’t upset the other man. Dreamed in shades of green and flowing language and a voice that was pure and simple.

Waking was a pleasant thing. Slow and lazy and he felt so long wrapped up in the blanket. The apartment was pleasantly warm, the whole place smelling like coffee again. Coffee…

Nate sat up suddenly, realizing what that had to mean. David had to be awake, which meant he needed to get moving. His eyes blinked repeatedly as he tried to get ahold of his surroundings, and what he found was a note on the table. A note with a key on top of it.

_Nate, I was going to wake you but 1) you looked comfy, and 2) after our talk last night I figured it might not be the best idea to share you awake. This is my spare key, so lock up and either slip the key under the mat or come to the cafe and drop it off. If the latter I’ll buy you a cup, and if you’re fast enough, you might catch Daniel. Either way, have a good day._

With a chuckle Nate reached for his boots. No reason he shouldn’t go and try just that. Besides, seeing Daniel again would mean he could ask the question in person. He needed a yes. In the end he wouldn’t find the other man there. He’d been there too late and while he stayed for hours, the other man didn’t return. Just another thing, Nathaniel supposed, his cousin would tease him about later.


	16. Interlude Three

Weekends, Nathaniel has been led to believe, are times of relaxation. In fact, he thinks he almost remembers something like that from way back when he was in high school. Of course he mostly remembers it for other people because he’d played football, and he’d been good. Every Saturday had begun early, he had warmed up for the game, and he’d gone in to play. After the game was chores, mostly helping his father fix and improve things around the house. When the game was in the evening then things happened in reverse: first help his father, second prepare for and play the game. Sometimes, if nothing was pressing, he’d spend his time with friends to celebrate a victory or mourn a loss. Sundays were about homework, reading ahead or catching up because of how much time football took up, and cleaning the house. And when it wasn’t football season, well, then he had a job that took up the better part of the same period of time. 

Weekends, he had been told back when he’d been in the service, were this thing to be longed for. It was when you could go off base for a beer. When no one would try to cut you down. You’d go back to America and your family would welcome you, and every weekend would be its own little paradise of rest and maybe watching sports of having a cookout or something else that they missed. Weekends were this unattainable pleasure that they hoped for, that they fought to protect, that some people in his unit talked up to mythic proportions with stories of keggers, road trips, picnics and pick up sports, and anything else that they missed. Weekends were filled with steaks and beer and sleeping in and gorgeous women who wanted your number. 

Weekends, Nathaniel has decided, have talked a big game and failed to bring it, so to speak. Or, perhaps, he’s being too hard on them. 

But can he be blamed? Nate sighs as he strolls down the street toward the cafe where he’d taken his breakfast every day since Daniel had brought him here. Still he hoped that he might run into the other man, especially since their recent texting had proved so fruitless. Even though Friday had been filled with pleasant exchanges, small jokes, and kind words, Daniel still hadn’t given him an up or down answer. Could they meet again? Could he spend time with this captivating young man that Nate had come to think of more and more often in his free time? Perhaps it was the frustration that had him so focused, but going through an entire Friday and Saturday with no real results other than non-committal answers had only made him start to wonder. 

What if Stephen had been right? 

Nate growled lowly as he turned the corner on the busy downtown street. Truth be told he hadn’t expected so many people out and about so early on a Sunday morning, but there was something about this city that kept proving him unprepared for normal, civilian life. It probably also didn’t help that there was not one, but two churches up the hill from the cafe and parking downtown seemed to be limited at the very best except in the parking garage just down the street from Connie’s. Of course a growl from someone the size of Nate always seemed to put people on edge, and a man he had been walking just a few steps behind clearly sped up his pace to get away from someone he might see as a hulking brute. Wonderful. Now he’d left an unintentional bad impression on someone because of his mood. 

The foul mood had a source, of course. A source named Gary. Stephen’s best friend had decided, without telling anyone apparently, that his period of ‘exile’ from Stephen’s apartment was over. Which had meant the presence of a man that Stephen had assured him to be a quiet, kind soul. A quiet, kind soul that delighted in the idea of someone like Nate staring at his phone as if it held the secrets of the world somewhere inside its wires and circuit boards. All night the two had discussed other reasons why such an ‘amazing, strapping, confident young man’ like Nate would be ignored by his mystery stranger. 

The memory made Nate more than simply angry. Something about Gary brought out a strange pettiness in his cousin that made Nate uncomfortable enough to slip out of the apartment this morning, solely because Gary intended to show up for video games and help editing a paper for school. So here Nate was, early on a Sunday morning, strolling into the cafe. 

Laughter flowed over him as he entered, lifting his gaze to a table by the windows. Laughter that was familiar and sweet. In the face of it, he had to frown for not causing it, not drawing it from the quiet young man as he had the other day. For sure enough there was Daniel, his back to Nate, laughing and shaking his head at something the man across the table had said. A man that Nate recognized as the one who had left, drawing Daniel away from him before their conversation on Thursday had really run its course. 

“Welcome,” someone behind the counter called, but Nate couldn’t tear his eyes from that other table, from the back of Daniel’s head. The other man at the table, though, looked up when he heard the greeting, and something flashed across his face at the sight of Nate. Trepidation? Hard to tell with the scars fingering out around his eye, making him look a bit shocked in truth. 

There was no chance he was going to go and interrupt those two, so with a sigh he nodded an acknowledgement to the man behind the counter, not David, and moved to the booth he had shared with Daniel days before. Strange how it seemed so empty with no company. Within moments the man from behind the counter, a dark-skinned individual who looked maybe eighteen with that stupid grin on his face, was there for Nate’s order. And more, if he was a judge of character. There was an energy about the stranger that said he wanted to know why Nate had spent so much time looking at the other customers. With a grunt Nate delivered the order, and a dark look sent the other man scurrying away, perhaps no longer comfortable with bothering a clearly surly customer. 

Was it possible, then, that Stephen had been right? Could it be that Daniel was actually dating this other man? David had assured him otherwise, but how could Nate know for sure? Asking would be too forward, to presumptive of him. What right had he to know what Daniel’s relationship with the scarred man was? They worked together, if the texts from Daniel had been any indication. Friends. Best friends.

His train of thought was derailed when a large mug of coffee and a scone was put down in front of him, and when Nate looked up, he had to smile thankfully when he saw it was David there. 

“Not even going to say hello, big guy?” David asked, amusement in his voice. 

“You weren’t visible when I entered,” Nate countered, only to get an eyeroll from David. 

“I was,” he answered. “I was just coming out of the kitchen. But someone was a little too focused on a certain green eyed man.”

“Of course he was. D’s fucking cute as a button.”

The new voice made Nate look to the side, and there he found the scarred man, slipping into the seat across from him. Nate couldn’t help but snarl at the man who was depriving him of time with Daniel, but it was an expression he quickly schooled. What was he thinking? This man was a friend of Daniel’s, maybe something more. It would do him no good in the quiet man’s eyes if he was hostile. Still…

“What do you want?”

“I think we need to have a little talk,” the stranger answered, and with a dismissive gesture, sent David walking away.

* * * * * *

“You know, if you keep scowling at your phone like that, your face is going to freeze that way.”

The words, coming when he was certain Shaun would be deep in that first blissful moment after his first sip of his coffee, shock Daniel enough to look up from his phone. What he found when he looked up was Shaun, staring at him, over a raised but still full cup of coffee. Oh. So maybe he’d launched himself back into his phone a little too early. But, really, how could he help it? The better part of a weekend past and despite the frequent texting back and forth, Daniel had still somehow failed to answer that first question. There was now a small voice in the back of his head that was saying if he couldn’t even remember the question long enough to answer it, maybe he just wasn’t as interested in talking to the other man as he had thought. Maybe it was just the shared language, the reminder of his mother that had caught him so off guard. That had made the stranger fascinating. No, not stranger. Nathaniel.

With a sigh he put his face down, tucked his hands in his lap, and looked very seriously across the table at Shaun.

“We both know my mother only said that to keep you from pulling faces in front of your parents,” Daniel reminded his friend, shaking his head. “It will not, in fact, ‘get stuck that way.’ And I am not scowling.”

“Okay, maybe not stuck, but you will definitely develop scowl-based wrinkles. And you don’t want scowl based wrinkles, D.”

The comment, punctuated by Shaun’s exaggeration of a scowl, was too much. Before Daniel could stop himself he was practically doubled over with laughter. How did his friend always come up with the perfect things to say to cheer him up? Hell, how did Shaun even know he needed cheering half the time. And, caught up in his giggling as he was, Daniel didn’t even know someone had entered the cafe until he heard Tucker calling a greeting from the counter. Quickly he fought himself for control, not wanting to seem like a giggling idiot if it was someone like Alexa had entered. Constance’s girlfriend had been nothing short of scary the last few times he had met her.

“Well, lookie who’s here,” Shaun observed, finally taking a sip of his coffee. That made Daniel sit up straighter. Given the tone that the other man was using, Daniel knew it could be only one person.

When he twisted in his seat he found himself staring at the large, white covered, and retreating back of Nathaniel. Strange, the slight ache in his chest to know that the man hadn’t even come over to greet him. No, maybe it was just that Nathaniel hadn’t realized Daniel was here, yes, that had to be it, right? But, then, why was he purposefully positioning himself to not look toward the door. Was he not even hoping to see Daniel come in today?

Daniel turned back to Shaun and frowned at his mug of coffee. Why should he care anyway? It wasn’t like he had to be excited that the other man was here. It was a nice, peaceful Sunday morning, they hadn’t exchanged any texts yet today, and Daniel was here for his coffee like he was every other morning. Sure, it was a bit later in the day because it was Sunday, but here he was nonetheless, and he was here with Shaun, and talking to David, not to some man he had met only because he’d been singing French in a supermarket. He wasn’t upset that he hadn’t been greeted…

Why then, he found himself asking, was he quietly fuming.

“Fucking hell,” Shaun grumbled on the other side of the table, causing Daniel to look up. Before he could protest his friend was moving, away from Daniel, away from their table, and most decidedly toward where Nathaniel had gone. Panicked, Daniel turned in his seat, following Shaun with his eyes until his friend at stopped at Nate’s table. Then, as he saw Nate start to turn a bit to look his way, Daniel meeped and turned his body and attention back to his body.

What in the world was Shaun doing, his brain screamed. Another part of him was amused, because normally that question was applied when Shaun was doing something truly foolish, like trying to flirt with Allison. To have it, in a way, turned back on himself was far from comforting though. Because, really, what the hell was Shaun doing.

The sound of two, unequal strides coming across the cafe floor made Daniel, despite himself, tense up. One was the light, not-quite limping that Shaun’s gait had taken on since his injury. The other was the heavier sound of boots, and there was only one person in the shop right now that could belong to. Well, other than Michael, but Daniel was certain the other man wasn’t coming out because he could see the kitchen door easily from where he was sitting. At last Shaun slid back into his seat across from him, and the other footsteps ended with Nathaniel standing beside their table.

_“I’m sorry to bother you,”_ Nathaniel greeted him in French, his voice that beautifully low rumble that turned an already lovely language into an absolute dream, _“but your boyfriend insisted that I come and greet you. I was unable to refuse.”_

There was, of course, several problems with that statement. First was the fact that Nathaniel thought his presence would be a bother. Already Daniel was remembering what a delightful time he had sharing a drink with the other man, and he was deeply regretting his failure to schedule another meeting. Secondly there was the concept that Nathaniel, as large, fit, and well trained as he was, would be unable to refuse anyone. And finally, boyfriend?

That one just left Daniel’s mind reeling. How was it possible that someone might mistake his relationship with Shaun as a romantic one? Well, he supposed outsiders had been so mistaken before, but to have this particular individual hold onto the idea after Daniel and presumably David had set him straight? Surely Shaun had claimed no such thing, especially knowing how Daniel felt about the other man. Which was another silly thought in and of itself because Daniel still wasn’t certain he knew how he felt about the other man. And dear god if he didn’t speak soon, no one was going to know what he thought about the other man.

Luckily, or unluckily really, Daniel’s subconscious mind was apparently far more ready to confront the situation than his conscious. Even as he attempted to pick apart Nathaniel’s greeting, his legs were pushing himself to his feet, springing him up like some trigger action. And, god help him, his mouth was running despite him not sending words to it.

“I don’t have a boyfriend!”

The words burst forth, some weird subconscious mixture of protest and apology, and it made a one-hundred percent embarrassing situation as Daniel caught the blank stare on Shaun’s face. Why couldn’t he still be wearing his scarf? As it was he had nowhere to hide his developing blush, save to look down at his feet.

“I mean…” he started to explain, only to have Shaun jump in.

“Dude, that isn’t even remotely okay to think,” Shaun said, his voice higher with his distress, his words fast and almost blurring together. “I mean, D is like my brother. Sort of is my brother in a non-legal but totally family binding sort of way. I would never, ever get involved with him like that. Not that I’m saying you’re not attractive physically and intellectually, D, or that I didn’t kiss you that time, but… Fuck, that story is so not fucking relevant right now. Okay, so anyway, that is not what is going on here at all. I’m happily involved with David, the waiter. Wave for the audience of our little melt down over here, David. There you go. See, that is my type, sexy and totally not impressed with me. Shit, I guess D isn’t impressed with me either. Oh god I need to shut up.”

Yes, Daniel thought to himself, he really did. And yet, Shaun rambled on.

“Anyway, long story really fucking short and hopefully less confused, I’m with David, D is single as all hell, and by the way he wouldn’t consider me if he was looking because he is so clearly smitten as hell with you and dear god, D, your face looks like a cherry tomato.”

Really? Really? Of course Shaun would have to go and say something as foolish as the idea of Daniel being ‘smitten’ with someone. Of course he wasn’t smitten with Nathaniel. He was just eager to pursue a friendship. Why was that so hard to accept?

And yet, when he turned his gaze to Nathaniel to apologize for his friend’s behavior, there was a brightness to those eyes and a relaxing of his shoulders that suggested the statement wasn’t entirely unwelcome.

Well… that was interesting.

* * * * * *

Shaun, as the man had introduced himself, clearly had a predilection toward babble. In another situation, Nate would have found that infinitely annoying, especially since it was having quite the negative impact on Daniel, and was interrupting his interactions with said lovely man. In this particular instance, though, he found himself quite thankful for the rather distasteful behavior. Yes, he was learning more than he desired to know--the last thing he wanted was to imagine the two friends kissing--but the good news was more than worth the tumble of words. Especially given how they had only deepened the beautiful red on Daniel’s cheeks.

A blush that deep only served to make the emerald of Daniel’s eyes all the more wonderful. Artistic. Captivating.

The only downside of the good news that Stephen was, in fact, wrong was the fact that Nate wanted to celebrate the reassurance. If only he could cheer or applaud his good fortune. But to do so would be inappropriate and further upset Daniel, of that he was certain. And upsetting Daniel couldn’t possibly be further from the list of Nate’s goals for the day.

To think only a brief stretch of time before this, he had been resolved to the pain of knowing Daniel wanted nothing to do with him. Yet the energy of that denial added to Shaun’s choice of the word ‘smitten’ had only served to make his day a hopeful thing. A thing of joy. A pleasure.

It was a moment not to be wasted, that much he was certain of. There were only so many days he would be in town. Only so many chances to spend with the man before him, and to waste the one he already had in his back pocket would be unforgivable. A regret worthy of carrying for the rest of his life, however long that might be.

_“Well then, since I’m here, do you mind if I ask a question that’s been on my mind lately?”_ Nate asked, the use of French turning both sets of eyes on him. He could already see Shaun bristling out of the corner of his eyes, which was amusing in and of itself, but he didn’t intend to prod at that too much.

“Oh my god, we’re in America, speak a language all of us can understand,” Shaun grumbled from his seat, but Nate’s eyes were glued to Daniel and his expression. The faint hint of dread mixed with hope.

_“And that would be?”_

_“Think we could find some chance to spend time together?”_

The question drew a nervous giggle from the other man, and Nate watched as Daniel’s hand came up to tug and twist at the long tail of his black hair. Must be a true nervous habit then. While he didn’t like the idea of making Daniel nervous, it probably meant that he was actually taking the question seriously. And given the color of his cheeks, this whole situation could be shaking up to go his way.

_“All we have to do is talk, if that helps,”_ Nate offered, and he was met by Daniel shaking his head and smiling. It was a soft, warm sort of smile that made him almost melt inside. Made him almost one big, goopy pile of melted military man.

“No,” Daniel responded at last, his voice just as soft as his smile as he released his ponytail. “I mean. Oh god. I mean, yes, I would quite enjoy meeting again. And no, it doesn’t just have to be talking.”

“Well then,” Nate chuckled, a bit heartened by the immediately clarification of the negative response. For a moment he had almost panicked, “how about tonight, if you have time? There’s a pair of French films being shown tonight on the college campus. My cousin decided he had better plans than to join me for that like he promised, and so I hoped you might instead.”

He could see Shaun roll his eyes, and honestly, Nate could not even care less at his expression. Despite the other man’s listening in on the conversation, he was not a part of it. If Nate wanted to offer French films, it was well within his rights. Specially considering the way Daniel’s eyes were lighting up.

“They’re free to the public?” the smaller man asked, his eyes dancing with excitement behind the frames of his glasses.

“A small cover charge, but nothing I can’t handle.”

“It would be lovely,” Daniel agreed at last. “Do you know when?”

Actually… Nate didn’t. He wanted to curse himself for forgetting so vital a piece of information when it came to asking Daniel to join him. And it wasn’t like he could call Stephen in the middle of the conversation to check with him. Which left him but one option.

“No, but I can head back to the apartment and text you the information,” Nate offered. “You could call me to figure out the details.”

“I will,” Daniel promised before finally sitting back down in his seat. “Would you, perhaps, care to join us.”

Nate just shook his head. Right now he needed time to process his outstanding luck, and perhaps a chance to settle down the pounding of his heart. As much as he might want to, he needed to sit, alone, with his coffee and think. And, of course, send a message to Stephen so he could figure out tonight’s plans sooner rather than later. Thankfully, Daniel seemed just a content with that answer, and Shaun seemed pleased, so after quiet goodbyes, Nate felt no qualms over walking back to his table, to his cooling drink, and to his thoughts. Nor did he find a reason to keep his back to the pair, so when he sat it was on the other side of his booth, pulling his drink and treat across the table with him.

The view from here was amazing. For a few minutes Nate sat there, sipping tea and munching his breakfast, looking occasionally across the room at the lovely man whose back was to him. The animation returned to the conversation that Daniel and Shaun were having, though this time it was clearly from Shaun, whose voice was a low buzz. Not that Nate didn’t know the conversation was about him, given how often he was gestured toward. At last, though, he tore his gaze from the other men and pulled out his cellphone. Time for answers.

_Stephen I need your help,_ he texted his cousin.

_l8r,_ was the quick reply. Not for the first time Nate huffed in irritation at the abbreviated language, but his real annoyance was the dismissal.

_Now._

_u cnt c it but im rolling my iiiis_

_And proper English may make this easier._

_fine what do you want?_

_When was the movie tonight?_

_still not going_

_I’m not asking you to go. I need to know when and where it is._

_ill find the answer if you answer me one question_

_Get it over with._

_why do you need to know? got a date?_

_Yes._

For a while Nate was left staring at the screen, waiting for a response.

_your mystery guy, does he know you’re not staying to the end of the month?_

Nate sighed and set his phone aside. Sooner or later Stephen would get the hint and send him the answer he wanted. Just… why did his cousin have to jab him with the reminder that, at best, he’s got two weeks to get to know this man before he has to go right back out of his life?

* * * * * *

The way that Nathaniel laughed captured the imagination like nothing else for Daniel. It seemed to start as a low rumble, deep in his chest, rising until it was bubbling forth like an endless font of mirth. The amusement would shake his shoulders and sometimes almost double him over, rendering him strangely breathless for how he barely voiced it. In a way it seemed to consume Nathaniel, like the laughter was the only thing he was capable of the moment he started, and he didn’t wish to wrest control back from it. 

Maybe, Daniel let himself muse, it was because there was so little laughter in a warzone. But no, that didn’t make sense. The larger man seemed more than capable of finding humor in any situation. In fact, the very reason that he was laughing right now had a lot to do with the an offhand joke he had made about the event they had just left. Not that Daniel had thought his own comment about the way a certain line in the noir film easily turned into the worst pun when translated into English was very funny, but Nathaniel seemed tickled so he let it slide. 

_“If I laugh any more, my sides will hurt,”_ Nathaniel warned, his French as spot on as ever. 

_“Maybe we should give you something else to…”_ Daniel started to respond, only to have a loud growl from Nathaniel’s stomach cut him off. The two paused in their slow stroll away from the college building the films had been shown in so they could laugh all over again. Daniel was actually gasping for air a minute later as he tried to get his question out. _“Should we get some take out?”_

_“I don’t think my stomach would forgive me if we didn’t. Are there even places around here we could get something at…”_ the other man pulled his phone out to check the time, _“nearly ten at night?”_

The very question brought a smile to his lips, and Daniel could see one growing in response on Nate’s face. It was warm and gentle, like Daniel almost remembered of his mother, but… Well, there just seemed to be something deeper, something he didn’t know how to quantify. So he brushed the strange feeling aside and took the question at face value. 

_“We’re on a college campus, Nathaniel. It’s time to show you just what that means,”_ Daniel chuckled as he returned his attention to the street. It took only a few seconds to get his bearings. If his memory served regarding some of the work Shaun had done on campus last year, there was an all night, non-fast food burger joint between where they were standing and the parking garage where Daniel had left his rarely used car parked after picking Nathaniel up. More likely than not it should be the perfect place for them to… 

“Nate.”

Daniel frowned and turned to look at the other man once more, tilting his head to the side. “Come again?”

“Call me Nate.”

For some reason the request, and the look of genuine hope in the other man’s eyes, made Daniel nod in agreement, and smile warmly right back at him. 

_“Well, Nate, there’s a place just up the street. I hope you like burgers, but if not, I think they have some vegetarian options. Pretty much every place on campus proper does.”_

Nate just nodded in agreement, and the two of them started back down the street together, their conversation turned once more to the three movies they’d enjoyed together. Of course, the very act of talking about them brought Daniel’s mind back to some of the things he’d been unable to help but notice during the whole situation. Like how Nate had seemed to radiate a kind of heat that Daniel had been hard pressed not to lean into when they had been sitting next to each other. Or the ease with which they had shared popcorn, given how reluctant Daniel found himself to share with even Shaun. Granted he was pretty sure that had to do with the fact that Shaun was a master popcorn hog, and Daniel liked to take small handfuls every now and then and eat it kernel by kernel. What really mattered, as he let his mind be partially distracted by remembering their interactions during the movie, had been how easy it had been to be there. How relaxed he had been. Maybe it was because of the language they had defaulted to reminding Daniel so much of his childhood, but perhaps it was the voice itself. The man himself. 

Soon, perhaps too soon, they were seated across from each other in a small booth at the restaurant Daniel had suggested, their meals between them, like a barrier that hadn’t been there before. Strange how the meal made the conversation seem a bit heavier. Or perhaps that was the slightly pained look on Nate’s face. 

_“Is something wrong? Do you not like your burger and fries?”_ Daniel asked, his voice soft. 

_“I haven’t been entirely honest with you.”_

The words hung heavy between them, and Daniel paused with a fry halfway between his plate and his mouth. The look Nate was giving him, though, made him slowly put the fry down and push his food aside for a moment. Clearly there was something important here, especially given how his chest ached at that idea. What could Nate have possibly said that was a lie? Why would he have even done it in the first place? Daniel’s mind raced through a variety of possibilities as he waited for Nate to speak. And maybe, just maybe, he watched the way Nate’s shoulders rose and fell with a sigh. 

_“I haven’t told you much about my family, have I?”_ Nate asked, his words slow, as if he was trying to figure out how to say something difficult. The sort of look that said Daniel interrupting would only make it worse. So instead he just nodded at the other man, hoping it would prompt him into continuing. _“We’re a big group, to be honest. Every few years there’s a ‘reunion’ of sorts somewhere in the country, where we go and take in some sights or something, big picnic, those sorts of things. I’ve missed more than the last few because of my service…”_

There was a slight tremor in Daniel. This wasn’t going to be good, was it? He was so nervous about what it was going to mean when Nate was done explaining. Clearly the other man was as well, because his gaze was downcast now, focused on a fry in his fingers that he was drawing repeatedly through a puddle of ketchup. Back and forth, back and forth, betraying the concern and tension in the other man. Still Daniel was silent, waiting, because what else could he do? 

_“Normally it happens mid-summer, but when I got news of when I was going to be coming home, my mother convinced everyone to put it off. For my sake. It’s happening later this month. The weekend of the twenty-fourth, up in Cleveland. There are probably a lot of plans. Anyway… Well, it was decided it was better that when I came home I just shacked up with my cousin for a bit, and I could come home to my parents, back to where I grew up to find a job and a new life, when the reunion was over…”_

Oh. 

Daniel just sat there, still as stone as Nathaniel looked up to him at last, searching his expression. Or maybe Nathaniel was just looking at him, not trying to read Daniel’s blank face. Which would be useless, Daniel thought. Because how was he even supposed to feel about this? Hadn’t the whole thing just been to give Nathaniel the reassurance of a language they both prefered? Surely it was nothing more than that, two people bonding over a shared past. Or a similar one. Why should Nathaniel be concerned over the fact that their connection was a temporary one? Besides, if it was friendship, they could continue online with calls or Skype chats or… 

Why did it hurt? 

“So you’re going to be leaving town on the twenty-fourth,” Daniel asked, and a part of him wondered what had caused him to slip out of French. Surely he wasn’t upset. “Well, that sounds like a lot of fun for you. I am sure that your family will be glad to see you. It’s always nice to be around…”

“Daniel,” Nathaniel cut him off, his hand reaching out across the table. Daniel was shocked into silence as that large hand settled over his own. “I wanted you to know that in spite of that, I’ve enjoyed our time together, and I’d honestly like more of it.”

Yeah, more. As if there was much they could fit in between now and then. Less than two weeks. What in the world did the man want out of him in the course of two weeks? More movies like this? More sessions at the cafe and late night texts and conversations that go no where and yet leave Daniel smiling? How was that even fair? To offer him a friendship and then yank away any hope of it meaning anything with a time limit? 

And yet… could he say that he hadn’t had fun tonight? Or during their time at the cafe? Could he genuinely say he hadn’t enjoyed the company of the other man and that he’d go without it when he could have it? 

Still Nathaniel was silent, clearly waiting for some kind of indication of what way the cards were going to fall. 

“You could join Shaun and I for coffee in the mornings. We come in first thing, but if you’re up early, there is no reason we can’t have another at the table.”

“Shaun won’t mind?” Nathaniel asked, concern thick in his voice. 

“For two weeks? No,” Daniel assured him. And if Shaun did, he’d deal with that himself, especially given how much time David seemed to make to talk to them in the mornings when he was working. “And we can find other ways to spend time together before your reunion. You wouldn’t want to go and meet your French-speaking family without being certain you’re brushed up, right?” 

That prompted a smile on his friend’s face, a radiant one. If nothing else, the reassurances were worth that, to see Nate happy. It still made Daniel warm inside. 

“Right,” Nate chuckled, pulling back at last to his food. “I suppose we need to figure out more ways to spend time together before I’m gone, right?”

“Right,” Daniel agreed, already coming up with a variety of means. “For one thing, there is an art-theater in town that shows more films like this on Wednesday nights. Would you be free to…?”

“Yes,” Nate assured him, almost leaping to agree and that made Daniel smile right back. 

“And what would you say to coming over to my place on Friday? I’m not the best cook, but I’m passable. We could drink high brow French wine, listen to music, and be so very desperately cliche while we eat bits of cheese.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Nate laughed. “Provided ‘high brow French wine’ is relatively cheap, and the cheese is the thing with actual quality, I’m in.”

“How could I ever have it any way other than that?” Daniel laughed with him. 

When they later part at Daniel’s car, Nate insisting his cousin lived nearby and he could walk it, Daniel just smiled and reminded him of the cafe the next morning. And when he sat in his car, watching Nate walk off with a wave, he had to smile. 

Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.


	17. Interlude Four

There was something about spending time with Nate that just caught ahold of Daniel and refused to let go. Wednesday’s movies had been amazing, but none of that had compared to tonight. Meeting Nate at the cafe after work had been a pleasure in and of itself, but there had been more to it than that. There had been something exciting about bringing the other man up to his apartment, a pride that suffused him when Nate had looked around the space and nodded his approval. Why that had mattered so much Daniel could not say, but it had been good to know anyway. And dinner, that had been flawless too, a French style three course meal starting with his mother’s onion tart, moving on to a sole meunière that he’d found a recipe for online, and finishing here on the couch with the cheese course. 

_“Been awhile since I had a good meal like this,”_ Nate admitted as he leaned forward to cut another smear of the brie off of the chunk on the table to spread over a cracker. _“The sole was amazing, in case I didn’t tell you.”_

Daniel had to chuckle at the comment from the other man as he liberated Nate’s wine glass from his hand so he could add another splash of the red Bordeaux they were sharing. Many of his cheeses had been bought to go with the Beaujolais, but Nate clearly preferred the richer red, so Daniel wasn’t about to complain about Nate taking the one he preferred. Specially since Daniel wasn’t the biggest fan of the brie when he had a camembert on the board, and the Beaujolais went better with it anyway. 

_“You have told me, about three times,”_ Daniel returned, and when he found the other man didn’t react to him, he reached out for the remote to his stereo system and turned the music down a bit. _“Not that it gets old. I’ve never made that before.”_

_“Could have fooled me,”_ Nate replied immediately as he shifted back onto the couch with his cracker and accepted his returned wine. _“Everything about the meal was perfect. Thank you for inviting me.”_

_“Don’t thank me until you’ve put a larger dent into this cheese, or I’m going to get concerned that you’re going to leave it all to me.”_

_“Would that really be so much of a burden?”_

Daniel laughed, shaking his head as he reached for his wine glass again. No, it wouldn’t. It had been so long since he had willingly gone out of his way to acquire these, the flavors of his childhood. Tastes that had been so readily available to him through Shaun’s family hadn’t seemed right to share alone. He could remember sitting around the cheese board when Shaun’s mother had dismissed the sampling from her parties so a more serious course could be brought out, or guests would be sent home. His mother would bring the children and Daniel into the kitchen and off to the table in the corner where the cook managed her own meals, and the five of them would sit around, sampling the treats. Shaun had never had a taste for it, though, and having the achingly familiar tastes of home alone never really sat well with Daniel. No, this was something to be shared with good company, and what better choice was there than Nate? 

V“A bit. So you need to sit here and help me put a respectable dent in these,” Daniel insisted with a light chuckle. _“Now, what was that book you were talking about?”_

Truth be told, Daniel didn’t care much about the book at all, not that he thought Nate cared much. It had just been easy conversation to share when they spent so much of the week proper talking about anything and everything. So yes, there was some part of Daniel that was listening to what Nate was saying about a historical fiction series about dragons during the Napoleonic wars. But really, what he was listening to was the way Nate was saying thing. The way he gesticulated with the hand that held his crackers and cheese, but never the hand with the wine glass, as if he was too afraid to spill some and spoil Daniel’s thrift store couch. It was sweet, and Daniel wanted to giggle any time Nate started to gesture, realized that it was his wine hand, and immediately froze. Then there was the very way Nate looked at him. It would no doubt be easier for the whole conversation if Nate had settled down in the armchair diagonal from Daniel. That way there would be the space for them to have the cheese, and their wine, and facing each other wouldn’t be so difficult. Instead the man had, when given the option, sat on the couch with is back against the arm and his legs crossed in front of him. Surely it couldn’t be as supporting as he needed, but Daniel had followed his example, curling his legs up under himself and just revelling in the company and energy in his apartment. 

Nate’s voice just seemed to fill up all the empty spaces in the place with ease, and Daniel found himself sitting there, smiling, and prompting the man on to greater explanations of the book just to hear it. The low hum that bounced off of the walls, counterpoint to the lilting flow of the music and the high clinks of the glasses against the glass coffee table, against each other, against the bottles of wine. It was a chorus of wonders. If only he never had to give it up. Curse the deadline on their friendship, curse his family reunion, curse the fact that there was no reason for him to stay and… 

Looking back he will know there was no conscious decision about the whole thing. One moment he was consumed with the beauty and peace of the world around him. The pleasure of another man’s voice, the perfection of the cheese, the light, fruity flavor of the wine on his tongue. The next he was moving across the couch, setting his glass aside and closing the distance between them. Maybe Nate moved to meet him, maybe he didn’t. What he knew was that he closed the distance and then their lips were pressed together, a stolen contact so foreign and so like his first kiss. Shaun had been the one to move without permission then, that Daniel had pushed away and yelled at in his embarrassment. This time, he knew it was him. Him moving forward, him pressing them together into a point where the only thing he could think about was how warm and soft Nate felt against him. 

And then, with a horrified yelp, Daniel was throwing himself away from Nate, back across the couch. He could feel how wide his eyes were, how much he was shaking, and to see the other man reaching toward him, concern on his face, was too much. So Daniel moved, because moving was the only thing the nervous, guilty energy in himself could allow. Within seconds he was on his feet and across the room, as much distance as he could between them as possible there in the span of a heartbeat. The panic starts in his gut, bubbling up until it’s spilling in tears down his cheeks and words falling unbidden from his lips. How could he have done this? How could he have ruined everything with something he’d never craved before? How did he make this right. 

Words fall from his lips and he paces, not even listening to them as he questioned himself internally. Why a kiss? He doesn’t even want something like that. If Nate had kissed him, he might have slapped the man, right? Here was this stranger in his life, in his home, and he’d just forced himself on the other man like it was okay. Like he had a right. Was it the wine? He heard it made you do stupid things but this was on a scale he had never experienced before. Was this what it was like to be Shaun, to put gut feelings ahead of reason, of logic, of proper decorum? God how could he do this, how would Nate ever look at him again in his life? 

The pacing continued, punctuated by Daniel biting at his fingernails, his cuticles, a habit he had thought long since vanquished. Yet here he was, going right back to it while he walks, five paces forward, turn, ten paces back, turn ten paces, and…

The chest that he ran into was wide, strong, and warm. The arms that looped around him, supporting as his mind tried to tear itself apart with his raging emotions. And the voice that whispered in his ear a soft, low assurance. 

_“You aren’t worthless, Daniel. You are so many amazing things, and nowhere near worthless. Sweet and beautiful and caring. Kind and gentle. Generous. Intelligent and funny at the same time, and oh so patient. It’s okay. I promise, right here and right now, you’re okay.”_

Worthless? Perhaps Daniel had called himself that. It was probably even correct. But the pure, simple conviction of Nate’s words almost made him believe them. Almost.

* * * * * *

Everything happens with a suddenness that would have left Nate breathless had he not lived the last years of his life going from one heart-in-your-throat moment to the next, if he hadn’t spent all of his downtime waiting for the other metaphorical shoe to drop. As it was he knew what how to act when action was what was needed. But god help him, how he had wanted to sink into that offered kiss, to lean in and let himself experience it. Who would ever think that his first kiss would come so suddenly from a man so shy that he only really opened up when he was speaking French? But what it kiss it had been. Soft and warm, and when Nate unconsciously licked his lips when Daniel had pulled back, it had tasted of sweeter, fruity wine that he had never really appreciated until that moment. 

Everything that came after that, though, was something to be handled. No time to process the implications. No, he was watching Daniel get to his feet, clearly fleeing, and it wasn’t a good thing at all. Already, as he watched Daniel pacing, he could hear the words, and they made him sick. 

_“What was I doing? God how could I ever make that mistake? God I’m such a worthless screw up. I can’t believe I could ever do something like…”_

Nate was on his feet with the first insult, across the room and watching. All he could do was watch as Daniel paced and fretted and cursed himself under his breath. What was Daniel doing, why was this happening, hadn’t that been a wonderful moment? Clearly the answer was no with how the other man was reacting, and the second Nate saw the man start chewing on his fingers. Nate had no choice at all but to move in and wrap the other man up in his embrace. 

_“You aren’t worthless, Daniel. You are so many amazing things, and nowhere near worthless. Sweet and beautiful and caring. Kind and gentle. Generous. Intelligent and funny at the same time, and oh so patient. It’s okay. I promise, right here and right now, you’re okay.”_

He offered the words at a whisper, and sure enough Daniel leaned in to it, needing to be closer to hear. So Nate held him closer and rubbed at his back, and tried to sway a little with the smaller man. “I promise you that it is going to be okay, Daniel. I’m not mad at you. Not at all. So please don’t be mad at yourself.”

It was only with that the the other man lifted his head, pain clear in his eyes. How hard it was to not reach out to stroke the other man’s cheek. What had he done wrong in allowing this contact? 

_“You don’t understand,”_ Daniel answered, looking up at him. _“I…”_

_“You kissed me. It’s something people do. And there is nothing wrong with it. So please, don’t be angry at yourself.”_

He would say it was silent them, but it wasn’t. The two of them were still together in a room with music playing, so there was that noise. But really, what Nate could hear in that moment was the sound of Daniel breathing, and in a way it was all he needed to hear. Still, he hoped for something more. Was that wrong of him? Yes, clearly Daniel was upset, but there was a look in his eyes that Nate didn’t know how to process, how to categorize. 

“I don’t know why,” he whispered, back in English. “I don’t know why I did that.”

“Perhaps the wine,” Nate returned, hoping to keep him calm with that. But really, how did one make another person calm? Sure, he had experiences, but he didn’t think they applied here at all. 

“No,” Daniel whispered. “I don’t… that isn’t something alcohol would make me do, and I didn’t drink enough and…”

It was clear he could come up with quite a few more arguments than that, but Nate just reached up to squeeze his shoulder, and that was enough for him, for right now, to soothe Daniel. The other man lowered his gaze again, but this time it was to rest his head against Nate’s chest. That had to be a step in the right direction. 

“You’re my friend,” Daniel whispered, his breath so hot against Nate’s chest. “Friend’s don’t…”

Nate didn’t respond, just let Daniel make this what he needed it to be, as much as it was hurting Nate in the process. For another long moment Daniel was silent, as if puzzling this all out in his head, which really made sense. Not that Nate wanted him figuring it out alone, or that he was ready for the implications. But it wasn’t his place, and so he was silent, even as Delta lifted his gaze again. 

“What’s going on in that head of yours?” Nate asked softly. He wanted to run his fingers through that hair. 

“I’m trying to figure out how it all went wrong.”

Wrong? There was that word again. Nate huffed a little at the very idea of it. And then… 

“It’s not wrong. It’s just different. And maybe different isn’t bad. Daniel… may I please kiss you?”

The hugeness of the smaller man’s eyes might have been funny were the situation not so serious to him. The wave of relief that ran through him as he watched Daniel nod. For half a moment Nate was certain he wouldn’t even be able to it, what with the fear in Daniel’s eyes. But there was a want in him, and Daniel had agreed so… 

Again it was nothing more than a gentle press, a contact that was there and then, perhaps, gone. But in that moment, in the moment he controlled, Nate felt amazing. The soft touch was impossibly warm. For half a second his eyes closed and the warmth flowed through him like a swallow of brandy. Then it was over, Nate pulling back and his eyes opening, and he could see the lightest touch of red on the other man’s cheeks. 

“Huh,” Daniel said, his voice a whisper. “That was… That was.”

The definitive statement almost made Nate chuckle. For Daniel’s sake, he held back. 

“What… does this mean?” Daniel asked, his voice soft and nervous. 

“What do you want it to mean?” Nate countered. “Because what I’m seeing is a chance to change our relationship to some degree, if that was what you wanted.”

“Change?”

Oh, could he not see it? Nate had, but he’d been the one to want it, hadn’t he? The one who had viewed their encounters as dates, despite the lack of time they would have together. Clearly he had not been on the same page as the other man, for which he felt horrible. But now, though, now there was the chance to finally figure it out together. 

“Some people might view what we’ve been doing lately as dating, Daniel. I know that wasn’t your intention but… I suppose I’m saying it wouldn’t be too much of a change. “Or we could have something else. A real date. I could take you out somewhere, my treat, and it would be time together just so we can be together. How does that sound?”

This time the silence as Daniel clearly pondered the offer was almost maddening. But patience was a virtue, and in time there was a soft, nervous smile that gave Nate his answer long before it was voiced. 

“Yeah. I think… I think I’d like to try that.”

Nate couldn’t hold himself back from the hug he offered then. “I promise it will be nice, Daniel, but we’ll figure that out tomorrow. For now, let’s go back to the cheeses. And how about we leaves the wines at the side, just in case?”

That drew a faint chuckle from Daniel. 

“Works for me. But… can we stop the music too? I’d like to just talk.”

That Nate could do. With that he guided Daniel back toward the couch. And, just to lighten the mood, he couldn’t help but ask one question. 

“I didn’t tell you how amazing the sole was?”

The laughter was music to his ears. 

* * * * * *

After Nathaniel had gone Daniel managed to hold his cool for a grand total of half an hour. That was what it took to get the cheeses put away, the dishes cleaned, and another glass of wine to get down his throat. Perhaps it was the fact that it was Friday and he knew David would be downstairs that held him back that long, that forced him to turn to wine to get his courage up. But, in the end, it happened. His resolve snapped and bundled up in his pajamas and with a blanket his mother had sent him wrapped around his shoulder, Daniel padded down the stairs. 

Still there was a moment of hesitance before he found himself able to knock on the door. The first went unanswered. The second, louder, also found no response. It wasn’t until the third and Danie’s near desperate knocking, that he had a response. And with it came grumbling. 

“I swear to god, D,” he could hear through the door, “if this isn’t important…”

It was with that threat that the door opened, and as Daniel looked upon his friend, he could see the ire melt away. Shaun didn’t even wait to see what was wrong, he just opened his arms to his friend, and Daniel surged forward into the comforting embrace. 

“I swear to god that if that Nate guy hurt you in any way, I’m going to pay Tex to kick his fucking ass,” Shaun promised. “I’ll even ask my brother for the money for it, no matter what he wants me to do in return. Hell, he might do it just for you, D.”

“Please don’t,” Daniel begged, and when his lifelong friend pulled him forward into the apartment, Daniel wasn’t complaining at all. “It’s just… we only…”

“Take your time,” Shaun said, his voice soft and his assurances there. Daniel wouldn’t be rushed, wouldn’t be forced to speak if he didn’t want to, and in the end it was all his choice. God how important that was. 

“Shaun, who was it?” David’s voice called from further in, and as Daniel was pulled forward, he caught sight of the other man. Of course, Daniel also caught sight of him, and the way the other man frowned only served to make Daniel feel very silly about the whole situation. “Daniel? Is something wrong?” 

“He… he kissed me,” Daniel whispered, and he could feel his friend going stiff beside him. 

“What?” David asked, clearly wanting to hear what was going on, what was interrupting his date. Of course, now that Daniel was really paying attention, he thought he knew why. Apparently, despite his efforts, David hadn’t done up his buttons straight in his rush to dress. Shaun’s t-shirt was clearly the better choice here. Daniel pushed the thoughts aside and tried not to shudder at the implication. 

“He kissed you?” Shaun demanded, the shock and anger clear in his voice. Yes, he still got it. Once again Shaun’s arms were around him, strong and comforting. “Oh D, I’m so sorry.”

“I don’t understand,” David said, and Daniel could hear the frown in his voice as he let Shaun guide him to the couch and sit him down. “Didn’t you have a date tonight?”

“It wasn’t a date,” Shaun snapped at David, and Daniel flinched away from it. It wasn’t right for Shaun to be like this. David didn’t know, couldn’t know, Daniel had never told him. “D doesn’t date. He doesn’t…”

“Please,” Daniel whispered quietly, begging, and Shaun went stiff against him. 

“It’s just… It wasn’t a date, and if there was a kiss, D didn’t ask for it and…”

“I kissed him,” Daniel told his friend, and Shaun pulled back to stare at him in shock. 

“But D…” 

“I wanted to, I think,” Daniel sighed, shaking his head. “He asked me out.”

Shaun still stared, clearly trying to process this. 

“That’s… good, right?” David asked, and when Daniel looked to him, he could still see the confusion on the other man’s face. 

“I…” Daniel looked at his best friend, and could see the plea on Shaun’s face. ‘Make this easier’ it said, and with a sigh he turned his attention on David. “I don’t want to be kissed like that. I’m… Shaun, please, help.”

“He’s asexual,” Shaun said, offering the words for Daniel. “I don’t know about how he would feel about a relationship with someone, but chances are Daniel didn’t find the courage to explain. So this guy could be expecting things out of D that D not only wouldn’t want to give, but would be upset by the idea of. So, see the problem?” 

“Then I’ll talk to him,” David offered. “I can tell him not to…”

“No!” Daniel protested, his voice verging on a shout. “Please, don’t, I…”

“You what?” Shaun asked, reaching for Daniel’s hand. 

“I… I have a date with him.”

“A what?” 

Three heartbeats of silence, and then Daniel repeated it.

“He asked to kiss me back, and I let him,” Daniel started to explain, raising his hands to his mouth. The urge to bite his nails was almost overwhelming. But immediately Shaun’s hands were there, pulling Daniel close to him and stroking his hair. The touch was so comforting that Daniel just closed his eyes and let himself feel. Each stroke of Shaun’s fingers pulled him further from his concerns. For a few minutes he was just deep in the simple pleasure of the moment. The simple comfort. 

There was a part of him, though, that wondered what it would be like if Nate were the one doing this. If it was larger fingers massaging his scalp. Those strong hands slowly, gently teasing knots out of his hair. A warm chest for him to press his head against, rising and falling with the other man’s breath. For that brief moment when he had been pressed up against Nate, it had been wonderful. The fear had still gripped him, and his disappointment in himself, but there had been a comfort in the presence of the other man. A comfort. A wonder. There was a part of him that wanted it more than anything. What if he’d just asked Nate to stay there, to hold him while he calmed down, rather than sending him away as soon as they were done with the cheese. But no, it wasn’t until this moment that he realized how much he missed the man. 

“Oh D,” Shaun whispered softly. 

“And when I did, I asked what we were now. What was happening. And…”

“He asked you out,” David provided, and Daniel nodded against Shaun’s chest, still not opening his eyes. 

“And I said yes,” Daniel affirmed. “I don’t know what to do now.”

The chuckle that sprang up from Shaun didn’t sound right. It was too high, it was too fast, and it was too familiar. When he chuckled it didn’t seem to come from his toes, and listening to it, Daniel found himself disappointed. No, more than that. Saddened. Where was Nate now? 

And why did he so desire the company of the man? 

“Oh god, D,” Shaun sighed, his hand moving to rub circles into his back. “We can find a way for you to back out of it. I’ll figure something out for you if you want.”

“That isn’t his concern,” David provided, and Daniel felt a weight settle on the other side of the couch. A soft hand settled on the back of his, and that was nice as well. “You want that date, don’t you?”

“I’ve never had a date before,” Daniel whispered, finally opening his eyes and looking up at Shaun. “I don’t know what I’m doing. Help.”

The smile Shaun gave him was warm and kind. “Yeah, D. I’ll do that. Don’t worry. David and I, we’ll get you through this.”

“You will? How?” Daniel asked, his hope catching in his throat. 

“Hey David…” Shaun said, turning his attention to his boyfriend. “Ever go on a double date?”

“Double date?” Daniel found himself parrotting, trying to figure out what was going on. 

“It’s when two couples go out together,” David explained, pulling away from Daniel. “Like… dinner, or the movies, or something like that.”

“Minigolf,” Shaun suggested. 

“Yeah, that works as well,” David agreed. “If you’re really that nervous about spending time with him on a date, or doing something wrong, or whatever, we can be there to support you, Daniel. That’s what friends do, right?”

“Right,” Shaun agreed happily. “We can do that for you, D. And besides, when he sees how silly I am, he’s going to be even more charmed by your poise and intelligence.”

Which, of course, assumed Daniel was going to be able to keep his cool around the other man. But he nodded and stayed leaning against his friend. When he didn’t move for a while Shaun lightly tapped his shoulder, trying to get his attention. Daniel knew what he wanted, and that was to stay in the comfort of his friend’s arms. 

“What else is bothering you, D?”

“It’s just that… Nate’s leaving the state before the end of the month and going home to his family to start his life back there.”

He saw the look shared between David and Shaun, but refused to think deeply on it. There were other things he was concerned with at the moment, such as how tired he was getting. Maybe if he just closed his eyes morning would come and everything would be alright.

Just close his eyes and things would be easier.

* * * * * *

Daniel was far too tipsy, and far too nervous to drive Nate back to Stephen’s, but he didn’t mind. The taxi driver looked the all business sort, which meant Nate had some quiet to contemplate the new turn in his life that was presented by what was going on. There was something strange in how Daniel had reacted to his own move to kiss, but perhaps that was okay, considering the way things had ultimately played out. Even as nervous as Daniel had seemed, it was still happening, a step had been taken. Which only made the idea of leaving the state at the end of the month more… complicated. What if things went well? How would he even know if they were? But if they were, how could he leave? 

Was there anything actually saying he had to go home to his parents? What if he found a job here instead? The place was pleasant enough, he enjoyed the occasional nights he spent at David’s apartment drinking and talking about whatever it took to calm the other man down. He even thought he was on the cusp of actually getting David to join him at his meetings. What if the blonde backslid without Nate there? How could he do that if he was supposed to be helping the other man? 

Well, now he had something to look into during the days, didn’t he? 

Nate found himself smiling as the cab came to a halt. As soon as payment had been handled he got himself out of the taxi and started toward the apartment that Stephen lived in. Hadn’t he seen an apartment emptying the other day right here? He could live near family without leaving this way. Not like he didn’t have the savings for something like this decision. Perk of the military if you weren’t looking for extra creature comforts was that they not only paid for your food, your housing, your clothing more or less, but they paid you for the time as well. He’d come out of the service with a good enough nest egg that he could pad out with a job, and surely getting one of those wouldn’t be too hard, right? 

Resolved to investigating the whole situation Nate got himself to his cousin’s door and knocked lightly on it (just in case Gary was over) before getting his keys out and opening the door. What he found was Stephen sitting on the couch, a sleeping Gary stretched out with his head in Stephen’s lap. If it wasn’t for the fact that he had to sleep there soon, he might have found the sight of Stephen toying with the other man’s hair endearing. Okay, so maybe it was more that he was jealous of the sight. Even now he wished he had just done it, reached out and touched the silk that crowned Daniel’s head. The thought was discarded as Stephen gave him a small wave in acknowledgement before canting his head toward the kitchen and raised his eyebrow. An invitation to talk about his evening without waking Gary. Nate just nodded his agreement, needing to get some of his thoughts off of his chest before he could even begin to consider sleep. 

It took him a bit to get down to the simple comfort of shirt, pants and socks, but he did so by the door while watching Stephen wiggle and worm his way out from under his friend’s head. Well, maybe friend was the wrong term, because the way Nate saw them treat each other, he thought there might be something more going on there despite how many times Stephen denied it. For a moment Nate considered shedding the socks too as he watched Stephen carefully lever a pillow under his friend’s head, but then decided he could move more quietly like this. At last he made his way toward the kitchen, Stephen following him. 

“How was your date?” Stephen asked as he moved to join Nate by the fridge. After a moment he opened the thing and pulled out a beer, quietly offering it to his cousin. Nate dismissed the offer with a shake of his head and waited for Stephen to open the thing so he could compose his answer. 

“It wasn’t a date,” Nate decided to start with, leaning back against a length of counter. 

“Well excuse me for finding you going over to the home of the guy you get up early in the morning to get a glimpse of, and having dinner with him, staying out late, and coming back with breath smelling like wine, as a sign of dating. Okay then, big man, what was it?”

What was it indeed? Time between friends that became more. Nate smiled to himself, remembering the feather light kisses. Were all kisses like that? It suddenly made a lot of things in high school make more sense. Hell, even made him understand some of the guys in his unit at last. 

“Something happen?” Stephen asked, and Nate had to chuckle. Wow this whole thing apparently made him easier to read, but his cousin had always been a bit better with him. All the time they had been growing up, little Stephen, little Sig, had been better at getting to the heart of the situation than any of the adults. It was almost like they had their own language, other than French of course. 

“He kissed me,” Nate smiled, and the grin his cousin gave him in return was self-satisfied in his own way. 

“You asshole,” Stephen laughed. “In town for not even ten days and the guy is kissing you. Whereas I’ve lived here for two years and I still can’t get the guy I have feelings for to notice me.”

“And yet Gary was in there with his head in your lap…”

“I’m not in a relationship with Gary,” Stephen dismissed. “I’ve told you that. He’s my best friend. Which means something different for us than it means for big scary marines, okay? Anyway, congratulations on your first kiss, big guy. Did you two…?”

The silence hung there for a minute, Nate waiting for elaboration and Stephen clearly thinking the question was more than enough. At last Stephen shuffled awkwardly from foot to foot and shook his head. “Uh, dating. Are you planning on dating now?” 

“Yeah,” Nate agreed. “We’re going to arrange something. Soon.”

“Better be, you’re going to leave soon,” Stephen pointed out. “But hey, warm-up for when you’re back home. Nathaniel, finally on the dating scene. You’re going to make a lot of people we went to school with very happy. And hopeful, because you sure as fuck filled out in the service.”

Nate rolled his eyes at that. They both knew he’d been big enough before the service, so the change was relatively minor. Still… maybe this was the best time to bring up the thought he’d had on the way home. 

“What… what if I stayed here instead of going home? I mean, I’d go home for a few weeks, visit Mom and Dad. Then I could come back here, get a job, start my own life…”

If the relative silence of Daniel after the first seconds of the kiss had been bad, what he got now from Stephen was nearly oppressive. Maybe even bordered on aggressive. There was a look on his face as he lowered his beer bottle that made it almost seem like the beer itself had gone bad, but Nate knew that look was for himself, not for anything else. Which was, probably, not a good sign. Definitely not a good sign. 

“Nate you… you can’t just make a decision as big as that right now. You just got back from fighting a fucking war,” Stephen said, like he needed to remind Nate of that. “You’re reaching for something you could passingly call normal, and you’re making a really big decision based on a guy you’ve kissed once and haven’t even been on a date with. What would you do here, Nate? What job would you get, where would you live, because my couch isn’t a long term answer. This isn’t something you just decide.”

Nate just stared at his cousin, shocked by the lack of support. “You know I’m an adult, right? I can make my own decisions, like I did when I signed up.”

“Yeah, and that could have gotten you killed,” Stephen snapped. “Jesus fuck, Nate, you don’t exactly have the best track record going. Do you know how your mother cried after you shipped out? No, because you didn’t get to see it. I’m the one that got to see how you hurt Aunt Fleur. So fuck you, man. You go home to your mother and you get to know the things you left behind before you do something stupid again, okay?”

“Sig…”

“No, you shut up and you think about what you’re doing here,” Stephen continued, just rolling over Nate’s attempt to calm him like it was nothing. “You just… you can talk to me when you stop sounding like an idiot.”

Nate was left leaning against the counter as his cousin took his beer and headed back into the living room, presumably to wake Gary. 

Well… that hadn’t been an expected response, but maybe it was a bad idea. In fact he almost moved to follow his cousin, to apologize. Would have were it not for the chirp from the phone in his pocket. The message he found waiting, though, banished the notion all together. There were other things to think about after all. 

_Nate, David. My advice? Double date with Shaun and I. Wednesday. Minigolf. You down?_

_Yes._

He didn’t need any more reply than that. And how the answer made his mood soar right back up to where it had been.


	18. Interlude Five

What, exactly, was one supposed to wear on their first date? No, seriously, what did you wear, how did you pick, and were there rules that modified the outfits based on time of day, year, and specific date content? These were but a few of the questions that plagued Daniel’s mind as he stood in his bedroom and considered his closet. Was this the sort of thing that could be covered in one of his few pairs of jeans, or did it call for slacks? Would it be acceptable to wear a warm coat, and if so, did what shirt he wore really make much of a difference? Yet it felt like it was very important, so he had to think it was.

With a sigh he pushed aside yet another shirt, why did he own so much green, and the chuckle behind him only made him groan in annoyance. 

“If you are not here to assist, then you are here to annoy me,” Daniel called without looking over his shoulder. He knew, without looking, that Shaun had decided to stretch out on his bed, and sure Daniel would prefer he didn’t do that when his bed was so freshly made. Not that Daniel had a reason to clean all the bedding earlier. Or any anticipation of needing to surprise someone with fresh sheets. Mostly it was just that the cleaning had helped him deal with some of his nerves over what was about to happen. 

“No, I’m totally here to assist,” Shaun insisted, and the sound of motion behind Daniel told him that his friend was finally getting up on his lazy feet. Soon enough Shaun was there, standing at his side, considering the closet. “Forgive me, D. I’ve just never seen you so out of sorts. Except, well, you know. All the times I have. Just never over a person. Forgive me for being a bit amused. Now… can I help?”

Yes, please. God how Daniel wanted and needed help, the problem was he wasn’t quite sure how to ask for it. Before this he had never really bothered to put this much thought into his clothing. He chose for comfort, worthiness for his job, and color combinations. But now he found himself wondering if there were items that would be more pleasing in Nate’s eyes. Should he be so interested in such a thing? He didn’t want to suggest that he was overly interested in certain relationship ‘staples’ but he didn’t want to seem dowdy either. 

“Help,” was all he could get out, his voice pitched a touch toward a whine. How could he be so pathetic? 

“All you ever have to do is ask, Danny, I promise,” Shaun assured him, patting his back before reaching into the closet. “Go to your dresser. You want the charcoal jeans I bought you last Christmas, the ones you pretend don’t exist because they fit your legs too snugly compared to your slacks. You’re going to want those and the those green gray shoes I got you for your birthday a few months back. Get some warm, comfortable socks too. We’re going to be on our feet for a while.”

With a sigh Daniel turned to his attention to the dresser. He had, indeed, buried the jeans in question deep in his drawer, mostly because he hadn’t liked the way they seemed to cling to him. But if Shaun said it was what he should do, well, he wasn’t going to to question it, even as he might like to do so. Shaun had dated before, which Daniel never had. Shaun cared about fashion, which Daniel never had. And Shaun was confident, which Daniel has always been better at before this. There was something about Nathaniel that was just so warm and welcoming that it turned Daniel into a mush that seemed to lack proper communication skills and restraint.

“And this,” Shaun said as Daniel pulled the jeans free. When Daniel turned his attention toward his friend he found his world swathed in emerald green. Wonderful. Daniel rolled his eyes under the covering shirt, and pulled it off of his head. Shaun’s choice was a startlingly simple one, when Daniel thought about it. But more than that, it was one of his favorite shirts. Was something like that really the best choice? 

No, he refused to question the definitive answer when it was offered to him. So he just replaced the shirt he was wearing with the one Shaun had chosen before continuing into the rest of the outfit as directed. 

“Why this shirt?” he asked as he buttoned it up. “What makes this suitable over another choice?”

Shaun shrugged when Daniel looked to him. “Nothing really, D. It just looks good on you and you’re comfortable in it. The jeans I chose because dammit I bought you those pants and you’re going to wear them. But mostly we’re going to be outside in the cool evening air and I want you to be comfortable and warm in your coat. And yet not so overbearingly warm that it would be uncomfortable when we hit the restaurant after.”

Right, the dinner part of this whole plan. Shaun had insisted, much to Daniel’s distress, that there had to be food. The thing was, the more Shaun talked about how a date ‘should’ work, the more Daniel realized the dinner with Nate and the movies they’d gone to see could easily have been categorized as such. Had he been dating without even realizing it? Not that he could see Nathaniel doing that to him, to be honest, but he still could see the parallels, and how his kiss might have confused Nate if they hadn’t talked. But they had, and now… 

“This is a good idea, right?” Daniel asked, frowning as he reached for his belt and threaded it onto his jeans. 

“The clothes? Yeah, D, you look amazing.”

“No, I mean… the date.”

He didn’t get a response right away. When he did, it came with a deep enough sigh that Daniel turned his gaze back to his friend and found a look of concern on his face. “D, whether it’s a good idea or not is up to you. But I’ve to say that, well, since you met him, you’ve seemed happier. Brighter. And this is new to you, new and maybe a bit scary. But different doesn’t mean bad. It just means new, and you’ll figure this out. I know that.”

Daniel sighed. Maybe he would, maybe he wouldn’t. Either way he intended to try. Because, if nothing else, he did enjoy the company of Nathaniel to no small degree. 

“I know,” he agreed as he smoothed his shirt. “I just… I want to get this right.”

Shaun moved forward, his hands coming to rest on Daniel’s shoulders to hold him in place. When Daniel started to look aside, his friend tsked until Daniel met his gaze levelly. Then Shaun smiled warmly at him. 

“There is no right or wrong on a date, D. Only being who you’ve always been and who you’ll always be. If he didn’t like that, well, he wouldn’t have invited you out for something like this, okay?”

“Okay,” Daniel agreed quietly. “If you say…”

“I say,” Shaun insisted, his voice firm. “He wants to be there because he wants to be around you. And that’s really cool. But when it comes right down to it, you’re not going to be alone for this. David and I will be there the whole time for when you need us. Besides…”

“I’m good at mini-golf,” Daniel completed for him, without prompting. He knew what Shaun was getting at, and why he had suggested the date format to David on Friday night.

“Exactly. If he isn’t impressed by how consistently under par you are, well, then that’s his problem,” Shaun smiled before pulling Daniel in for a tight hug. For a while they stood there, Daniel taking comfort in the proximity of his friend. Then they pulled apart and Shaun grinned the sort of grin he reserved for mischief. “Now, D… You’ve got to help me look good to David, alright? Because it would be super great if I didn’t…”

“I’m not helping you cheat your scores,” Daniel rolled his eyes, pushing Shaun away from him. The man stumbled backwards and flopped right back down onto Daniel’s bed. 

“Mmmm, smells like lavender,” Shaun teased. “What, were we out of the mountain stuff? That’s sad, I like smelling like a fresh day high up in the mountains.”

“Yes, well, if you have a problem with the detergent, then you can buy your own next time. Until then, make do with what I get you.”

“Jerk,” Shaun pouted, shaking his head. “Why would you do such a thing to me? How cruel.”

Daniel rolled his eyes and simply walked out of his bedroom, turning the light off behind him. He ignored Shaun’s yelp of surprise and just continued on into the living room. He had to find those shoes, and he was pretty certain they were in the front closet. 

* * * * * *

There were so many reasons he could come up with for why tonight was already amazing. First and foremost was the fact that this was a date, well and truly a date. Sure, there were two people keeping them company at the same time, but the part of this that Nate was excited for was the fact that he was going to have that time with Daniel, on a date. Their date. No matter what Stephen said, he was going to make this work out, and it was going to work out well. He’d figure it out, he just needed more time and definitely a touch more motivation. And what motivation was could be more amazing than Daniel’s smile when Nate, picked up by David, met them at the mini-golf course.

“Hello,” Daniel greeted him, his voice soft and shy. It lacked the normal strength, the poise that Daniel normally had, but Nate didn’t think that was too bad. He just smiled back at the shorter man and nodded. 

“Hey,” he returned, then gestured for Daniel to join him at the counter. It wasn’t like he wanted to stand around and wait as David and Shaun kissed each other hello. That was their lives, their business, and definitely their private moment. So instead he gestured for the other man to join him at the counter. 

It looked like Daniel wasn’t quite ready for a real conversation, so Nate turned his attention instead to the young man working the counter. It took no time at all to pay for the four rounds and with a wordless smile he gestured for Daniel to help him in gathering what they needed. Between the two of them they managed to select a variety of balls (plain white for Nate, green for Daniel, and yellow and blue for Shaun and David to fight over), their scorecard and pencil and even selected their own clubs before the other two even managed to make it into the place. Nate rolled his eyes dramatically and the chuckle that drew from Daniel was perfect. 

“Oh, I was gonna pay,” Shaun complained from the counter when he joined Nate and Daniel, pointed there by the guy at the counter. “I now insist that I’m covering dinner.”

Nate shrugged. “You are welcome to pay for yours.”

His eyes met Shaun’s and for a second they stared each other down. Truth be told, he thought he could understand it. Daniel seemed to have a deep connection to Shaun, maybe even brotherly. Nate got it, he really did, given what he’d always been with and to Stephen. Still, it wasn’t his goal here to hurt Daniel, so the last thing he wanted was the other man second guessing him every step of this thing. Especially since Nate wasn’t entirely sure he was going about this the right way. He knew what a date should be like from David’s brief coaching and Stephen’s longer, if abstract, discussions the last few days. His own confidence in all of this depended a lot on him being able to do what he could, and if Shaun got in the way of that, they might have a problem. 

“Shaun,” Daniel sighed, shaking his head. “Just get your club. I’m eager to show your boyfriend how bad at this you are.”

“Hey!” Shaun protested, and as Daniel walked off, smirking, Nate couldn’t help but follow, chuckling under his breath.

“Is he really that bad?” Nate asked as they stepped back out into the cool autumn air. The sun hadn’t been down very long, but already he was starting to feel a bit of the bite. Granted, he was really looking forward to snow, which he hadn’t seen in years, but he was starting to remember why winter wasn’t his favorite time of the year. 

“It’s not that he’s bad, per se,” Daniel smiled as he led Nate over toward a bench that waited by the tee of the first hole. Once they were seated Daniel pulled out their scorecard and started to jot down names. “It’s just that Shaun is a very showy man. He likes to take the risky shots that would look cool, And sometimes he puts far too much power into the shots, and so his ball will bounce out of bounds. There has been a time or two that we’ve had to use the course rule of a max of six strokes per hole for him.”

The smile Daniel gave him suggested that last part was a joke, and Nate smiled right back, mostly pleased by the way that smile lit up Daniel’s whole face. How could he not smile back. 

“Do you play often then?” It seemed like the right kind of question to ask to pass the time while they were waiting for their companions. 

“Shaun and I play once or twice a month in the summer,” Daniel admitted, looking down toward his feet, and Nate took the chance to smile warmly at him. He looked good tonight, though mostly Nate thought it had more to do with the way the chill air pinked his cheeks and made his eyes seem brighter. “Normally we don’t come out at this time of the year.”

“Too dark?” Nate suggested. 

“They use lights,” Daniel said, shaking his head. “No, it’s… well, it’s more the cold.”

With that statement Nate looked more closely at the other man, and a lot of what he’d previously noted made even more sense. The warm coat even though the place didn’t seem cold enough even for Nate to feel that was justified. The scarf that he’d been wearing every time they had met, even in the mornings or afternoons. And now that he was looking for it, he could see how Daniel was hunched over a bit and rubbing his hands together every few minutes as if to warm them. Well, he thought he had a solution for that, but only if Daniel let him. 

“If you want I could…”

“Okay, you’re all going down!” Shaun announced loudly, drawing Nate’s gaze and maybe inside a touch of his ire. Was it possible the man was going to attempt to ruin moments all night, or was it merely some form of luck? Nate dreaded that potential, especially if it was him having poor luck as opposed to Shaun having… well, something. 

“Well, good luck with that,” Daniel answered, his voice dry as he stood. “If you’re so confident, would you prefer to tee up first?” 

“This is just going to be a laugh and a half, isn’t it?” David chuckled, and Nate had to smile at that comment. The man’s pleasure over his boyfriend’s failings, if Daniel was correct about them, was definitely going to buoy Nate’s spirits. 

“Perhaps even two full laughs,” Daniel suggested, and Shaun grumbled under his breath as he moved forward and made a show of pulling out his blue golf ball. David rolled his eyes and moved forward to evaluate the hole and even as Daniel moved forward to warn him, Nate reached out to lightly touch Daniel’s shoulder. 

“If he knows about his own failings, he’ll be more careful for David’s sake,” Nate assured the shorter man. “Besides… it can’t actually be that bad, right?”

The look of actual concern on Daniel’s face was so serious that Nate actually let him go. 

“Uh, David, you may want to stay behind Shaun.”

“Okay, I only hit that woman in the head once,” Shaun protested. 

Nate looked up and he saw David actually blanch before scurrying back to where Nate and Daniel stood, together and safe, behind Shaun. Of course Shaun seemed to deflate from this behavior, and David chuckled as he found a place to watch is boyfriend putt from. Nate, though, was watching Daniel. His date had his hands stuffed in his pockets, clearly trying to keep them warm while leaning his putter against his leg. Alright… maybe he could just… 

Daniel jumped when Nate’s hand reached out took the club into the same hand that his own was. His gaze turned to Nate, lifting up to look at him. Nate just smiled back as he reached out, gently tugging on Daniel’s sleeve. For a moment Daniel seemed to consider this, consider the implications of the tug. Then his hand slipped free. Nate tilted his head curiously to the side and as Shaun started to curse, Daniel bit his lip. 

_“Let me help you keep your hand warm. You need it to track our scores, right?”_ Nate asked, switching to French and pitching his voice into a gentle whisper. 

The blush that washed over Daniel’s cheeks was a deep and beautiful rose, but there was a minute little nod and when Nate took Daniel’s hand in his own, Daniel didn’t pull away. Sure his eyes cast toward the ground and his other hand came up to pull his scarf up over the lower bit of his face, but he didn’t pull away. More than that, when Nate squeezed the fingers in his grip, Daniel squeezed back. The smile that curved his lips at that could not have been wider, and he knew it. Even took pride in it.

Of course he was wrong. Every time Daniel’s hand sought his out when one of them wasn’t putting, his smile only grew.

* * * * * *

Why had he even bothered to be worried earlier? Now the decision seemed quite ridiculous, if he really thought about it. All that panic, all that concern, all the fear that he wouldn’t do it right? Well, maybe it wasn’t gone entirely, but Daniel had enjoyed it slowly melting away in the course of the date. In fact, by the beginning of dinner he had actually grown annoyed by the constant presence of Shaun and David. Maybe the relaxed tension had come from the way he’d enjoyed the teasing Shaun’s poor playing with Nate. Not that Nate had been amazing either, but he hadn’t attempted the sorts of stunts Shaun pulled in the name of impressing Daniel. The way the scores had started to balance out had even led to a bet between the four of them. Well, no, the actual truth was that the bet was between Shaun and Nate, but Daniel did have the added benefit of being on the winning team based on their scores. To the losing team leader went the check for the next morning’s breakfast at the cafe, but Daniel figured it worked well enough no matter what happened. 

Dinner had been more than pleasant as well, considering the fact that Shaun had picked a rather relaxed atmosphere kind of place. As they came in later in the evening they place had mostly cleared out, and the service had been great but not hovering from an older woman who seemed to know the exact perfect balance between service and space. But the fact that Daniel couldn’t spend the whole time there leaning in close over the table with Nate, talking in hushed French, enjoying their little jokes and sharing whatever occurred to them, was disappointing. Every time Daniel found himself defaulting to the other language at the table, even if only for a moment, Shaun would give them all sour looks, especially David. ‘Encouraging’ them, Shaun accused him, and Daniel couldn’t help but chuckle behind his hand. And the way the amusement flashed through Nate’s eyes warmed him every time. 

This, though? This moment right here was practically magical. The nervous hand holding that had started their mini-golfing adventure was all but replaced by the end, and now that they were slowly strolling the blocks between the downtown restaurant and Daniel and Shaun’s building, it was perfect. His hand felt small inside Nate’s, but the warmth that he offered was almost shocking. It started in Daniel’s hand and just spread from there, coursing through his body until he could feel it down in the tips of his toes. So here and now, walking back with their fingers laced together, Daniel walking close enough to Nate that their shoulders sometimes brushed, it was lovely. Especially since Shaun and David were walking a few paces ahead of them, leaving Daniel and Nate to follow at their own pace. Well, their pace was with the pace of the other two, but it was still lovely. 

_“Did you have a good night?”_ Nate asked, his voice a sweet rumble of French. 

_“It was nice, putting Shaun in his place,”_ Daniel admitted with a chuckle, swinging his hand just a bit more and marveling how Nate just let it happen. _“There are other things we do with each other that I’m not as good at, so this is always fun.”_

_“Not as good at?”_

_“I should never, ever bowl,”_ Daniel smiled and shook his head. 

_“I’m pretty good,”_ Nate warned him, a teasing tone in his voice, and Daniel smiled up at him. 

_“I just have trouble managing the weight of the ball.”_

“Ah,” Nate grunted, stopping for a step. Which, of course, made things weird. Daniel stumbled forward, and instantly Nate was there, catching him in his arms. Such strong arms, such warm arms. “Oh, uh, sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Daniel chuckled as he straightened himself. Then he gestured for them to head forward, and Nate just started forward once more, not questioning it. “Why did you stop anyway?”

“Candlepin. We don’t bowl the same way back home.”

Daniel raised a curious eyebrow at that, but his urge to press further was quelled as he caught sight of David and Shaun coming to a stop before them. Were they really there already? Had to be, because Shaun and David had turned to each other and there was clearly a whispered conversation going on. Daniel pulled Nate to a stop and tried to look anywhere but at Shaun and his boyfriend. Of course how could he not peek at them a bit? 

What he saw when he looked was Shaun stepping into David’s space, cupping his cheek in one hand, and tilting his head up just a bit. Daniel watched, his face red, as Shaun leaned in and kissed his boyfriend, and it clearly wasn’t a brief thing. Was… was that how dates were supposed to end? Was he expected to let Nate kiss him like he’d sometimes caught Daniel and Shaun kissing? Not that he hadn’t enjoyed their two previous, if brief, touches. But could he really perform on demand with people looking on? 

“Hey,” Nate said, and Daniel turned to look up at his… well, boyfriend was the right term for people who were dating, right? Even if one of them was going to disappear soon, yeah? 

Daniel swallowed hard, and when Nate reached for his other hand, Daniel didn’t withhold it. For a second he stood there, looking down at their joined hands, loving the heat. But just as he was getting used to the view of their fingers tangled together, Nate was moving. Daniel’s eyes lifted before his head, and then he could feel the weight and warmth of lips on his head. In his hair. From the heat in his cheeks he knew he had to be blushing, and when Nate pulled back and Daniel looked up at the other man, he saw a gentle, almost relieved smile. 

Maybe he’d been just as concerned by the implication of what they should be as Daniel was. But how could that be? Nate had seemed more confident about all of this than Daniel had ever felt. Was it possible, though, that they were both a little out of their elements here? 

_“Thank you for tonight,”_ Nate told him softly, the French warming Daniel almost as much as the contact of their still joined hands. _“I can honestly say it’s the most fun I’ve had said I came back to the states. And I’d like to do it again sometime. Well, maybe not necessarily the exact same thing, and maybe not with the company, but definitely something with you.”_

Nate must have been speaking louder than Daniel thought, because he heard a quiet curse from Shaun, probably at the language choice, and a warm chuckle from David. What if David heard all of that? No, Daniel told himself. He just pushed the concern down and focused only on Nate. 

_“Until next time,”_ Daniel assured him. 

_“Until next time,”_ Nate agreed. 

Then the warmth of their contact was gone, Nate pulling away and walking over toward David. The man was, after all, his ride him. Daniel, though, was left standing there, staring after him with a strange combination of shock and longing. All of that had been so sweet, so comforting, so perfect. If only he could capture that moment for just a little longer. But there was something good about this too, watching Nate walk away and see him beckon David with a tilt of his head. Daniel just stood there and watched as Nate got into the car with a small smile and a smaller wave. And by the time they had driven off, Daniel was left standing there, only reminded of where he was by the chill air starting to overtake him and Shaun’s hand on his shoulder. 

“Real gentleman, that,” Shaun noted, shaking his head. “Come on, D. Let’s get you up to your place and warmed up, okay?”

Daniel nodded silently and let himself be guided not only to their door, but inside. Once they were there, though, warming their hands in the stairwell, he just stood there, his back to the locked door. With a smile his hands came up to his hair, smoothing it in place. But he knew he was searching, as if he could find the place those lips had pressed, as if he couldn’t still feel their weight. 

“Have fun?” Shaun asked, reaching an arm around Daniel’s shoulder and herding him up the stairs.

“A lot,” Daniel admitted with a soft laugh. 

“Did you like the time with him?” 

“So very, very much,” Daniel agreed, barely even noticing as they passed Shaun’s landing and continued up to his own. 

“Would you like to do it again?”

“Oh yes,” Daniel whispered, a bit less overwhelmingly confident with that statement, even as right as it felt deep in his chest, coming from the same place as that weird ache he’d been noticing before this. “Very much.”

“Alone?”

All Daniel needed to respond was a chuckle. Then they were through his door and Daniel was taking off his warm outerwear. 

“Then I have only one question left before I abandon you to your warm bath,” Shaun smiled. “Where are we going to send you two?”

* * * * * *

The start of the ride was silent, just like the taxi ride both so recently and so long ago. It felt like a lifetime considering the warmth and pleasure of tonight. The only thing he could think of were the looks he had seen on Daniel’s face throughout the night. The smiles and the laughter. The shy glances and hot blushes and simple incredulity when Shaun managed to actually get a single hole in one. The look that had conveyed his approval the first time Nate had taken his hand. The little glances down at their twined fingers whenever Daniel didn’t think he was looking. And definitely the look on his face after Nate had kissed his hair and backed away. The concern that had been on Daniel’s face when they had watched Shaun and David kissing had been more than clear. No, not concern. Distress. The pleasure that had seemed to wash over him at the far more chaste option Nate had executed. 

The very thought of it made Nate smile, and as much as he wanted to, he didn’t reach up to touch his lips. Not with David right there in the car, his eyes on the road, bound to take Nate home. 

“We need to talk.”

David’s sudden statement, spoken so seriously, just shocked Nate out of his daze. Immediately his mind raced through all the possible causes of the statement. Had there been something in the whole experience which had triggered David’s memories? If so he had managed to hide it rather well, but those who were hurting always seemed to find a way to. Or so Nate was told at group. But maybe it wasn’t that, not with how hard David’s voice was. 

“About?” Nate hazarded. 

“Daniel, and your intentions.”

Oh. So apparently he was going to get a lecture from the man who had seemed to be in his corner up until this point. That was something Nate was so looking forward to. Maybe, though, it wouldn’t be too bad. Then again, Nate had heard more than once about the sorts of things that protective parents had done to his high school friends when they started dating. Guys mentioned fathers who implied bodily harm if they ‘hurt’ their daughters. Nate had never been certain whether the implication was over heartbreak or actual physical and mental harm, but he’d never seen anything come of it, so he hadn’t been too concerned for his friends. 

Nor, really, was he too concerned if that threat was being made against him by David. As much as he’d never say it to his new friend, he didn’t find the other man threatening at all. But David being more protective than others made sense. There was trauma there that Nate knew little of, and he had theories he didn’t like to think about. Given that, he couldn’t be surprised at all. But did David really think so poorly of him. 

“I want another date, at the very least,” Nate answered before indicating a left at the upcoming intersection. David didn’t seem to need the reminder, but he did nod in acknowledgement. 

“I get that. That much was very clear with how you treated him today. I don’t doubt that you’d like it unchaperoned too. But is it really fair to ask that of him when all of us know that you’re going to be leaving soon?”

Oh. That. “He told you.”

“He told Shaun and me,” David agreed, his voice just this side of cold. “And what you’re doing? It’s not cool. You don’t just walk into someone’s life and offer them something they’ve never known and then walk right back out.”

Interesting… But Nate didn’t push at the button he sensed there. It would be wrong long before it was rude. “Are you really concerned I would do that?” 

“People aren’t easy to predict,” David answered, turning another corner without prompting and slowing the car down as they entered the area thick with apartments near the campus. “Which one again?”

“Red brick, third building,” Nate answered. “And I assure you that this wasn’t what I wanted. I… I would hate to hurt Daniel.”

“And yet here you are,” David countered. “About to go. Nine days, give or take, right?”

Yeah, the reminder was painful. 

“I want them to be the most memorable days I can manage,” Nate promised as David pulled the car to a stop. 

Nate sighed, and didn’t move to get out of the car. Clearly this conversation need to be had before things really got out of hand. The thing was he didn’t quite know how to assure David if David was so certain he might be a villain in this. 

“Thing is? That is what the problem is,” David sighed. “This was his first date, Nate, and he…”

“Mine too.”

That shut David up. Shut him up and his gaze turned to Nate in shock. Looked him up and down. “You? Really?”

“Really. Never cared to. But Daniel… is different.”

Daniel made him smile. Daniel made him laugh. Daniel made him want to wake up early in the mornings rather than revelling in the sleeping in he had never been allowed in the military and which seemed so interesting. There was something about Daniel that just… changed everything. 

“You like him, a lot,” David observed. 

“I suppose I do.”

“And you’re still leaving?” 

Nate looked down at his hands and sighed. How was he supposed to explain it? He had no where here. Had nothing here. Well, he had his cousin, but his home, his life, that was all back in Maine. As Stephen had pointed out, the only real choice for him was to go home. 

“I have to,” he sighed. “There’s nothing for me here.”

“Is there really anything for you there? Beyond your family?”

No. There was no job waiting beyond the one that he’d always been told he’d do. His friends had lives that he’d have to find a place in. His family had moved on more likely than not. Here there were new friends. A place he was coming to enjoy. Daniel…

“It’s home.”

“Sometimes…” David started, his voice nervous. He trailed off for a bit and then started again, his voice a touch more confident. “Sometimes the only way we can find ourselves, that we can free ourselves from who we are and what we experienced and become the person we want to one day be, is to start anew somewhere without the old history. Or lacking a good bit of it. Sometimes you have to be willing to take a risk to find something you really want, or to keep what you want close.”

For a while Nate sat there, considering what he’d just heard. Then he nodded, because he couldn’t help but agree, on some level. “Sounds like you might know what you’re talking about.”

The statement drove a brief chuckle from David’s lips, and at the same time it lightened the mood substantially. 

“Maybe I do,” David finally agreed, turning to smile at Nate. “And I don’t want to see you hurting Daniel for nothing, or not seeing that maybe what is expected of you isn’t always the right choice. I know that myself. It… isn’t easy to make a chance, but that isn’t a reason not to try. And hey, if you decide to come back here, I’ll help you find something. A place to stay or a job to do or anything. Well, I might actually ask my friend to help you, but I sort of owe it to you.”

“You don’t owe me anything,” Nate countered as he opened the car door. “And I promise you, I’m giving all of this a lot of thought.”

A lot more now that he’d had someone trying to reinforce something Nate had already wanted to do. Maybe it was a bit willful, maybe it was a bit rash, but maybe it wasn’t a bad thing to be that every now and then. Reach out and grab what you wanted. Why couldn’t he be the person he wanted to be after coming home from the war he chose to fight? After all, he had joined up against everyone’s advice. He’d bypassed college… 

In fact, he could settle here, get a job, and maybe finally go to college. And not for sports. Maybe he should take the time to think about this seriously. Knowing he might have someone to back him up in that decision, well, it definitely helped things. Now if only he could convince his cousin to be nearly so supportive as this. But in the end, it was his decision, wasn’t it? 

“See you in the morning,” Nate said as he got out of the car. “Remind Shaun that he owes me breakfast.”

David chuckled and saluted. And then he leaned forward a bit. “And remember. You break D’s heart, I might have to hurt you. Well, I’ll send far scarier people after you, and I don’t think it would do much, but the sentiment is there, okay? So you really need to have a serious talk to him about this before you go. Or maybe after you go if you want to come back.”

Nate nodded in agreement before he shut the door. 

There was no way he was going to sleep any time soon. There was far too much to think about. Smiling, Nate headed for the apartment. There was a whole new way to look at the world now.


	19. Interlude Six

“Daniel? Daniel, it’s you. Call or fold? D? Earth to Daniel, you still with us?”

It wasn’t the call of the voice practically in his ear that brought Daniel’s thoughts back to Earth, but rather the light touch at his elbow. Daniel blushed as he looked at Stephen, embarrassed to have zoned out so deeply, and turned his attention to the cards in his hand. After a moment, and a quick evaluation of the pot, Daniel just folded his hand and stretched. 

“Would you mind terribly if I took a moment to brew some more coffee?” Daniel asked his friends at the table with a soft smile, hoping they would take it as something other than a chance to get away so he could clear his mind. Gary seemed rather bored with the prospect, focusing instead on gathering up his winnings from this hand, but Stephen nodded gently. He was always kind like that, and Daniel smiled with appreciation at his friend as he got up and made his way into the kitchen. 

“I promise to bring you both back beers,” he assured them as he walked off, earning appreciative murmurs in the process. 

Some traditions could not be forsaken just because Daniel had a new boyfriend he had spent every waking hour since the date last night thinking about. One such ritual, as it were, was the poker game that Stephen hosted every other Thursday in his apartment. As neither Stephen nor Gary had classes on Fridays until late in the day, their games lasted into the wee hours of the night, sometimes ending with Daniel crashing on the couch. Normally he took a lot of pleasure in taking the other two for their money.

Yet as traditional as the game was, after the mini-golf last night, poker was the last thing on Daniel’s mind. There were places he would rather be than here. Out with Nate, for instance. It had been frustrating to admit to Nate this morning that he wasn’t going to be free for a movie night at his apartment, or anything else for that matter. Even though there was so little time for him to know Nate, to be around him, just about a week at this point, Daniel owed this night to his other friends. Two games ago Daniel had ducked out a few hours before he intended because of Shaun calling him in a panic the night of his first date with David. The most recent one he’d missed out on because Gary had been out of town for a conference, and though Stephen had offered to still play with just the two of them, Daniel hadn’t wanted to have a game with only two people. Now that he thought about it, though, that had been the same day that Daniel had met Nate at the cafe the first time, and Shaun had proved to have another date with David go a bit sideways, leaving him in Daniel’s apartment, in his arms. So, despite how badly he wanted to be somewhere with Nate, just holding his hand, Daniel was here. 

Coffee took forever to brew. That was always the ultimate failing of his favorite beverage Daniel thought. He sighed and stood there, looking at the coffee pot, wondering if the old adage about watched pots and boiling applied to coffee as well. More than that, he wondered where Nate was. The man’s expression had fallen so much this morning at breakfast when he’d offered his evening to Daniel, noting that his cousin had kicked him out for the better part of the evening and he hoped they could do something together. When Daniel had turned him down he had looked so crestfallen. Good thing David had been nearby to offer his own company. Shaun had pouted, but Daniel had appreciated the fact that he wasn’t the only friend Nathaniel had made. 

For a moment he considered taking out his phone to send Nate a message apologizing once again, but the coffee pot made a noise to announce the finished brewing. Soon Daniel had gathered up the drinks he had promised and made his way back to the table. Gary and Stephen had clearly started a quick hand of gin rummy while Daniel had been gone. As he set the drinks before them Gary picked up another card and discarded a three, and Stephen smirked up at him. 

“So, D, why so distant tonight?” Stephen asked.

“Distant?” Daniel asked, shocked. Had he really been so bad that Stephen had noticed his lack of focus? 

“I believe Stephen means to question you as to how we haven’t been relieved of at least fifty dollars apiece yet,” Gary provided, not looking up from his cards as he shuffled and reshuffled them, perhaps contemplating a new meld strategy. 

“Well, he put it bluntly, but yeah, you aren’t winning nearly as much this week,” Stephen chuckled in agreement. “Figured maybe something happened in the last month that you hadn’t told us about yet. So fess up, because as nice as it is to not be losing all my money, the game isn’t as deep with you unfocused.”

“You’re losing all your money to Gary,” Daniel reminded Stephen, but… Well, what was the harm in explaining? “I… I suppose you could say I’ve met someone.”

“Met someone?” Stephen parroted, and there was something a little off about his voice, but Daniel wasn’t sure enough about that to really try to think too hard about it. “Well, look at that, Daniel finally has some change in his monotonous life. Okay then, tell us, what is the man who finally caught D’s eye like?”

Daniel couldn’t help but smile warmly at that idea. Talk about Nate? That was definitely something he could do. After all, Nathaniel was amazing, and the way he made Daniel feel was pretty amazing as well, right? Wasn’t that something to be shared with, maybe even lauded by, his friends? 

“I guess you’d say he was amazing,” Daniel admitted. And then he had to chuckle at the fact that he hadn’t been able to put it better than that. Normally he was so good with words. What was it about Nate that made him a bit less competent? Was it the affection that swelled up within him when he thought about the other man? If only he’d had more time to explore the concept of Nathaniel. Maybe then he could put it into words. 

“Eloquent,” Gary told him, and Daniel wished he had a poker chip in hand to toss at him. Gary, though, would take that as money surrendered, and Daniel was not giving him cash like that. 

“It’s a very new relationship, though I suppose I met him when we were last supposed to meet,” Daniel shrugged. “We actually only had our first date recently. His eyes are warm, his laughter a true pleasure to hear. He’s strong and confident, and he will sit there for hours to talk to me about books we’ve read, or music we like, or movies we watched together.”

“Sounds a bit like me,” Stephen rolled his eyes. “Except, you know, I hope he pays for meals for you two.”

“Not exactly,” Daniel laughed. “But he did pay for things last night, which I suppose is a good thing. Are boyfriends supposed to do that? Well, anyway, he makes me laugh and makes me smile and always cares about what I think. I don’t know if Shaun likes him, but that hardly seems important. And his hands are… warm.”

As Daniel looked up at Stephen, smiling, he couldn’t help but notice the less than pleased look his friend was wearing. Now why would that happen? Perhaps he was just jealous. So far as Daniel knew, Stephen hadn’t been in a relationship since they met, though he had his suspicions about the nature of Gary and Stephen’s relationship when he wasn’t around. Not that it stopped him from speculating from time to time. 

“Sounds nice,” Stephen noted, his voice a touch flatter as Gary took the cards and started to shuffle them for another hand of poker. “But what is it about him that’s special. That makes him more than just a friend.”

Wow, talk about something Daniel didn’t know how to put into words. “Well, I guess… he makes me feel comfortable, like I’m safe and back home. He speaks French, almost perfectly. My mother was from France, came over here to work for a family. I used to hear it so much. To have someone who prefers it, who likes it so much. It’s like I can share more with him.”

It was strange, the way Stephen was watching him, his eyes intent. 

“How’d you meet this mystery man of yours?” Stephen asked. “Surely that’s a story and a half.”

“If you’d believe it,” Daniel chuckled, shaking his head, “I was singing at the store, a French musician whose music I enjoy. He heard and provided the next line. Turns out he hadn’t heard someone speak French in a while, because he…”

“Just got back from overseas,” Stephen provided for him, and Daniel was shocked to have him say that. How could Stephen even begin to guess at that? 

The question went unasked because even as it came to Daniel’s lips, the apartment door opened and all eyes were turned toward it. And there, framed against the hallway, was Nathaniel.

* * * * * *

When Nate had been told that morning that he had to keep himself out of the apartment for most of the evening, he hadn’t really had a problem with the order from his cousin. After all, it was a one time thing, and it wasn’t like he couldn’t turn to Daniel for something to do with his time. That, clearly, had fallen through, but even so he had not been dissuaded from hoping to find some way to pass the time. David, first thing that morning, had offered to have Nate over for the night to help him ‘break in his new game system.’ The offer had sounded nice enough, and so much of his life might have gone differently had the thing not broken down the second they turned it on. David had cursed and threatened the thing for nearly an hour until Nate, though amused, had offered to visit his cousin to borrow a functioning system, maybe even some games. No way Stephen would need it with his scheduled poker game, and Nate could get all of that packed up and even some clothes for the next day if he asked nicely enough. There couldn’t be anything he was really interrupting after all. 

To say that walking into the apartment to find a familiar form sitting with his back to the door was surprising would be a definite understatement. But perhaps surprise wasn’t as important as concern when he saw scarlet quickly consuming his cousin’s face. A scarlet that only seemed to spread all the faster as Daniel turned, saw him, and rose immediately out of his seat. The smile that met Nate’s gaze was as warm as Stephen’s expression was murderous, and were it not for the fact that Daniel was approaching to greet him with a light hug, Nate might have just closed the door and walked away. As it was… 

“Nate,” Daniel greeted him, his voice loud and happy. “What are you doing here? I thought the door was locked. Wait… _Stephen_ is the cousin you keep telling me about?”

The expression on Stephen’s face only darkened, and as Gary pushed away from the table, as if to get himself out of the line of fire, Nate knew. Just like that he understood what was going on, and why it was so bad. The person Stephen had alluded to, the one he was interested in and had been trying to catch the eye of for a while? Of course it had to be Daniel. How could Nate not have seen it coming? Whenever Stephen had chosen to confide in him in the past about the people he was interested in, they were always of a type. Delicate features, vivid eyes, soft spoken but smart, and absolutely confident when it came to the things they cared about. Daniel could only ever be a flame that his Sig was drawn to. The only question now was how he was supposed to handle it. 

“Nathaniel,” Stephen greeted him after he cleared his throat. “I can see you met my friend Daniel around town.”

“I didn’t know the two of you knew each other,” Nate returned, defending himself already. Because the only thing he could do was play defensively here. Daniel probably didn’t even know that a battle was about to be waged here. In fact… maybe that battle shouldn’t be waged while he was still standing in the hall. Thankfully Daniel had released the hug and stepped back to let Nate into the apartment. “I didn’t know Daniel was your other poker friend.”

“Well, not surprising,” Stephen answered. “Though I do remember telling you that poker night was just for us. What are you doing home so soon?”

“Friend’s game system broke down. Was hoping we could borrow yours. Maybe grab some clothes for myself so I can crash there tonight.” 

The fury that flashed in Stephen’s eyes seemed to say that Nate was definitely staying there tonight. 

“Want to borrow some games too?” Stephen asked. “I’ve got some in my room. How about you come back and pick some out? I’ll show you where they are.”

And so the battle ground was chosen. Even though it was a low blow, Nate did lean down to kiss his boyfriend’s brow before slipping past him. From the corner of his eye he see the ire drawn by the action. Not that Nate cared too much. Maybe the gesture was possessive, but Daniel was dating him, so for the moment he didn’t care. 

“Of course,” Nate agreed, moving to follow Stephen once his cousin was moving. 

“Should I deal the next game?” Gary asked from the table. 

“Not until I’m back,” Stephen answered, and that was ominous in and of itself. Still Nate was silent until his cousin was leading him off, and he left Daniel behind as he went to join Stephen.

Of course he found the door to Stephen’s bedroom closed behind him as he entered the room. No good getting everything off of their chests if it turned out they were overheard. Nate didn’t even bother to wait for Stephen to open his mouth before he sat down on the edge of his cousin’s bed. As used to getting yelled at as he was, he thought it would be better for them both if he wasn’t towering over Stephen, seeing him as the enemy. 

“Daniel?” Stephen snarled. “Of all the men in this city, of all the people, you had to choose the man I’ve been after forever?”

As if that was a fair argument to present. Nate just shook his head. “One, I didn’t choose him, it just happened. Two, you never told me who it was you were after. Three…”

“You never told me who your ‘mystery man’ was,” Stephen countered. “Fuck, you’re only here for a few days, and you’ve already ruined more than a year of work. How could you do this to me? Thank god you’re leaving town soon, because I don’t think I could handle…”

“I’m not leaving,” Nate interrupted him. Which left Stephen just staring at him in something like horror. 

“No, Nate, you are,” Stephen insisted. “You’re going home to Maine. Remember? When this is over you’re going to go home to Maine and you’re not coming back here because making a rash decision like that, even for Daniel, is way too much.”

“I’ve made up my mind, and I want to try to live a life here instead,” Nate insisted. “Listen, I’m sorry that the man I feel for happened to be the one you wanted, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m dating him. So will you just relax about…”

“No,” Stephen snapped. “God, don’t you even… God, just get your stuff and get out of here, dammit. The last thing I want to see right now is your damn face after you’ve gone and done this to me.”

“I haven’t done anything to you, Sig,” Nate sighed, trying to keep himself calm. “I haven’t…”

“Don’t call me that. Don’t you dare call me that when you’ve hurt me like this. Betrayed me.”

Why in the world did he have to see it like that? It was stupid, more than stupid. Frustratingly bad decisions were being made here, and there was nothing Nate could do. Well, no, he could give Stephen the space he needed right now. 

“Fine,” Nate sighed, pushing to his feet. “You know how to reach me when you calm the hell down. Because you will. Sooner or later you’ll realize how stupid it is to be mad at me for something I didn’t even know, not to mention something I can’t really control.”

Stephen huffed at that statement, moving to open the bedroom door. “Maybe you’ll come to your senses and stop setting Daniel up for the pain you’re going to inflict on him when you disappear in a week. Seriously, what sort of asshole starts romancing a guy you’re never going to see again?”

For a moment Nate just stayed there, trying to put it all together. Why did Stephen have to be so irrational over all of this? 

“What do you mean he left!?” Stephen’s voice tore through the apartment, and Nate could tell what it meant. Apparently Daniel had gotten a feel for the situation after all. Nate almost wanted to smile over that. But really, it was only going to make things with Stephen more complicated. Nate reached up to run his hand over his head. He could feel it getting a bit longer than he liked. Quietly he decided he would have to deal with that in the morning, which meant packing his shaving kit as well. Sighing Nate headed for the bathroom. For now he’d only grab the essentials. Surely Stephen would cool down by the morning. Still, on the off chance he wouldn’t, Nate wanted to grab things for a few days. Which meant his toiletries had go into the duffel in Stephen’s office with some of his new clothes. And, once all of that was done, he headed for the door, not bothering to meet the gaze of either Stephen or Gary, who had settled on the couch. Interrupting them now would only make things worse. 

Good thing David was due back here soon enough. 

* * * * * *

The thing is, neither of them was nearly so subtle as they may have liked to think. Or perhaps it was they underestimated Daniel’s powers of observation when things seemed off. Perhaps they didn’t realize they were radiating aggression in a way that Daniel couldn’t help but see himself in the middle of. And then the muffled shouting had started and Daniel knew, without a doubt, what was going on. Okay, well, really he was more suspicious than anything, but something told him he knew how this was going to go. Which was why, in the end, he had bundled back up into his warm clothes and headed out of the apartment building to sit on one of the benches near the door. The chill of the night air was getting to him, but Daniel just fluffed his scarf up around his neck, ducked the lower part of his face into the warmth, and pulled the gloves from his coat pocket so he could tug them on. 

They weren’t, of course, nearly so warm as Nate’s hand in his. But Daniel, well, he’d have to do for just a bit longer. 

In the end it turned out to be fifteen full minutes that Daniel waited outside, trembling with the cold, before the doors of the apartment opened and Nate came out, his own fists in the pouch of his sweatshirt and a large, military issue duffel bag over his shoulder. Clearly the other man didn’t notice him, though, not with the attention he was giving his phone. Probably contacting David if Daniel really thought about it. Not that he intended to let David get Nate away from him before they could talk. 

Which was why he cleared his throat. The sound, due to the chill of the air, came out less clearly than Daniel had wanted. God he could use a hot drink. But there were more pressing things, so he just licked his lips and called out. 

“Was that what I thought that was, Nathaniel?”

The other man moved like a flash. One second his boyfriend was there, walking away from him, the next the duffel was on the ground and it was like Nate was reaching for a weapon that wasn’t there. Daniel really wasn’t offended by that, in fact he was impressed by the other man’s reaction speed. What he was bothered by, though, was the look Nate wore, one that almost said the shock had been enough to drive Daniel’s very existence from the other man’s mind. But that expression was gone in half a second, and Nate was looking at him bashfully as he grabbed up his bag again. 

“Depends. What did you think it was?”

Daniel rolled his eyes as he pushed himself to his feet and moved to stand in front of his boyfriend. “Stephen, your cousin… he isn’t dating Gary, is he?”

“No,” Nathaniel agreed quietly, and Daniel felt himself deflate a little at the confirmation. All this time, and he hadn’t even suspected. And now he had hurt his friend, and used his cousin to do it. 

“It is me that he’s interested in, isn’t it?” Daniel asked with another sigh, and Nate just nodded in response. “Well, tidy little mess I got us into, isn’t it? Your cousin has a touch of a temper, if you didn’t know.”

“Figured that out,” Nate answered, shrugging. “Listen, I…”

“David must be waiting for you, right?” Daniel provided immediately, and Nate nodded briefly. “Can he wait?”

“He thinks I’m staying there tonight,” Nate admitted, and when Daniel gestured toward the parking lot, Nate started to move with him. “My cousin, Stephen, he may have kicked me out for the night.”

If Daniel knew how Stephen could hold a grudge, and he’d heard plenty of stories over poker of things Stephen did to people he didn’t much like, he thought it would be more than that. Asking David to agree to something like that for so long, Daniel found himself wondering if there wasn’t something better he could offer. And couldn’t he? When he really thought about it, couldn’t he? His couch was surely as comfortable as the other man’s, and it was his fault this was happening, wasn’t it? 

“Stay with me.”

The words tumbled out quickly. Daniel almost wanted to call them back, but he knew he had said them so fast because he had wanted them out there before he could go back on the decision. If he was going to be losing the other man, he might as well steal as much time as he could with the other man, right? But Nate froze at the question, and when he looked, Daniel saw the shock on his face. 

“Really?” Nate asked after a moment. “You’re certain?”

“We’re friends,” Daniel pointed out. “Well, dating really, but this is still my fault, to some degree. At the very least I’m as responsible as you and Stephen are for this whole thing. Besides, it not forever, right? My couch is comfortable, you eat breakfast with me anyway, and I have to say I’d enjoy the excuse to have dinners with you, so it’s not a problem, right?”

Instead of a straight answer, he found himself pulled into a nearly painfully tight hug. Daniel tried not to laugh too much at the pleasure of it, at the warmth. There was so much strength here, and already he knew he was going to miss it when it was gone. For now, though, he intended to revel in the contact while he could have it. All he wanted was to stay here in the limitless wonder of these arms. 

“Shall we?” Daniel asked when Nate finally let him go. 

“I should probably tell David that our night together is off,” Nate reminded him, producing his phone from the pouch on his sweatshirt. “Mostly because we don’t want to upset another person tonight.”

Daniel couldn’t help but chuckle at the statement. Even though he’d upset one of his better friends, something about tonight felt good anyway. Maybe it was the way Nate didn’t continue to the car, but rather focused on the text first. Because the second it was sent off Nate’s hand reached for his, and Daniel had to smile. Even through his glove he could feel the warmth and the strength of the grip. How could anything possibly be better than this? 

“There,” Nate announced as he let Daniel pull them toward his car. “What are we going to do with our night?”

“If we’re lucky, we can enjoy a quiet night in my apartment, maybe with a movie or a game,” Daniel suggested. “Mostly I spend Thursdays on music when I’m not here. Well, that and lately I hope David and Shaun don’t have another bad date. Sometimes Shaun ends up in my apartment, hoping for cheering up. If he does…”

Nate nodded without prompting. “Best friends who are like brothers before boyfriends. I get that.”

Thank god for the small things. Daniel smiled and stopped them by his car. As much as he hated it, he had to drop Nate’s hand to unlock the door. God help him he just wanted to hold that hand all the way back. But for now he had to be reasonable. Soon enough he could be home, sitting on his couch, maybe leaning against Nate, as they watched a movie. It would be amazing. Amazing enough that Daniel couldn’t help but smile. 

“Penny for your thoughts?” Nate offered. “Why the smile?”

“Would you be horribly offended if I told you that I intend to use you like a pillow while we watch whatever we watch?”

The smile the got in return was amazing, and it made Daniel’s heart swell in a weird way. But the best way. Chuckling Daniel got into the car and leaned across to unlock it for Nate. Almost immediately the door opened before him and Nate caught his hand again. Daniel stared at him with a blush, one that only grew deeper as Nate leaned in and pulled Daniel’s hand up. Nate’s lips brushed against the back of Daniel’s gloved hand, and it was just amazing to watch him like that. If only his glove had been off. Then, with a chuckle, Nate released him and Daniel was left to stare as his boyfriend got into the car. God help him, he had to figure out how to keep this man in his life. The only question was how. 

“Don’t be so silly,” Daniel chided him once Nate was in the car and his bag was in the back seat.

“Silly? Thought that was supposed to be charming.”

“Charm and sap are two different things,” Daniel warned. “And I know sap. Shaun has a secret fixation on romantic comedy movies.”

Nate’s laughter warmed the atmosphere of the car, and Daniel had to laugh with him even though he didn’t know why. 

“Of course,” Nate said at last. “It seems right up his alley. He seems quite happy with David though.”

“Trust me, he’s living his own little romance movie right now,” Daniel responded as he buckled up and started the car. “I just hope he gets a happy ending.”

For that matter, he wouldn’t much mind one himself. 

* * * * * *

Being in Daniel’s apartment felt different than it had before. Granted last time he had been here because he had been a friend invited over for a meal, but that had been the night things had changed, hadn’t it? Still, was the difference between him now and him then so marked that he should feel different simply by being here? How did that make any sense at all? Yet the difference was there in the air as Nathaniel toed his shoes off and looked around the apartment. Perhaps it was in the fact that he was going to be staying. When his shoes came off this time, they wouldn’t go back on until the sun had risen. The difference was important, even if he couldn’t put his finger on quite why. 

He must have been caught up in those thoughts because when he had his shoes finally arranged by the door and looked up again, Daniel was nowhere to be seen. There was light and noise from the kitchen, though, and so Nate had to assume the location. 

“Where should I put my stuff?” Nate called out cautiously. Would the noise be loud enough to draw Shaun’s attention? He hoped not. The last thing he wanted was to explain the whole situation to Daniel’s best friend right now. His hope was that Daniel would come up with a way to make this sound less terrible by morning. 

“Just drop your bag inside the door to my bedroom,” Daniel’s voice suggested from the kitchen. “I’m making hot chocolate. Would you like some?”

“I would, thank you,” Nate agreed, looking around. There was only two doors in the apartment he hadn’t gone through yet. One was in the bathroom, and it was in the wall the bathroom shared with the room Nathaniel assumed was behind the other door. Daniel’s bedroom. 

“Anything special with it?” Daniel called again as Nate came to a stop in front of the closed door. “I’ve got cinnamon, nutmeg, chili powder, and mini-marshmallows. Oh, and milk or water?”

So many questions. Still, thinking about those did keep him from over thinking as he opened the door to the bedroom. He caught a brief glimpse of green by the light of the living room, and then just tucked his bag around the corner of the door. That done he closed it and shuffled in his socks toward Daniel’s kitchen. There he found the slight man, smiling to himself as he worked to gather everything he had mentioned. Nate leaned against the frame of the door and smiled. 

“Milk, and nutmeg,” Nate answered, and while Daniel flinched the tiniest bit at his sudden words, when the other man turned to look at him, it was with a smile. 

“A man after my own heart,” Daniel smiled. “Though I am also fond of cinnamon, late and night I prefer the richer flavor of the nutmeg. Just so you know, my couch, it’s a fold out bed. I haven’t used it since I moved in, but I’ve got sheets, and hopefully it will be long enough for a man your height. I can bring out some spare pillows and sheets for you, but I’m not sure what to do for blankets. None of the ones I have are quite as long as you are.”

“Few tend to be,” Nate assured him, moving into the kitchen to be closer to Daniel. “Don’t worry, it already sounds like a better setup than I’ve had at Stephen’s. And what you’re offering me is already a great kindness.”

“Do good for your fellow man and good will be done for you,” Daniel shrugged. “My mother tells me that all the time. I try to live by it.”

“Good lesson.”

Daniel smiled again, and then turned his attention to constructing their drinks. For a few minutes they were there in a comfortable sort of silence. For all that Nate had never been a big talker himself, listening to other people talking tended to be a comfort. Yet here, with Daniel, he was quite content to enjoy the silence between them. Perhaps it was because of the ease of it. It was as if neither of them really felt obligated to fill the silence. It was another companion for them, and a welcome one. So they stood there, Daniel making cocoa and Nate just watching the motion of his delicate fingers. 

“Here,” Daniel said, when he finally offered a mug to Nate. “Join me on the couch?”

Nate smiled and nodded, gesturing for the other man to lead the way in his own home. That drew another smile from the man, and together they moved to get situated on the couch. Almost immediately after Nate got himself comfortable leaning against an arm, there was Daniel, looking at him with a question in his eyes. While he didn’t know what it was, Nate nodded to it, and it was good to know that whatever it was, Daniel was asking. Then, a second later, Daniel was sitting as well, leaning against Nate. 

It was like parts of him became hyper aware. Every bit of him that was in contact with Daniel seemed to heat up. Not that he was really warmer or uncomfortable. It was just that the contact was comforting. The warmth of him was wonderful. No, more than wonderful. Welcome, like the heat of the cocoa through the mug. He didn’t need that heat, didn’t need to let himself be caught up in it, but the touch made him feel like he was home. It was comfortable, it was nice, and it was right. Something in the back of his head said it was right and good for Daniel to be here like this. Like it was something he’d always wanted but never known to ask for. 

“Luckily you’re not going to need it too long.”

Nate sat there, blinking, as he tried to figure out what Daniel meant. Maybe he went stiff in his pondering, or maybe Daniel just thought it was a weird statement as well, because soon his shoulders were shaking with a held back chuckle. 

“Well, that was indeed a non sequitur. What I meant as the couch bed. I imagine Stephen might hold this against you only a few days. Then you’ll be back at his place, and then wherever you’re going when you leave for your reunion. And then…”

The way Daniel’s voice trailed off, getting slower and sadder, only made Nate’s chest ache. Good thing he had a way to handle that, to get rid of the sorrow that threatened to bubble up in him. 

“And then I’ll come back here,” Nate supplied, his voice a whisper. Maybe he was nervous about admitting this to Daniel. Okay, he was definitely nervous. What if Daniel didn’t agree with David? What if he was more of Stephen’s point of view, that such a decision was rash? Or what if he didn’t think he was worthy of such a decision?

The way Daniel tilted his head up and over his shoulder to look at Nate. Was it hope or concern he saw in those eyes? As Daniel leaned forward and put his mug on the table, was he doing it because he was about to lecture Nathaniel, or was it because he was hoping to do something else altogether. 

What he got was Daniel turning so he was really looking at Nate, and those eyes, those vivid green eyes were so perfectly beautiful in that moment. They shone and danced in the light of the room. So beautiful, and so perfect as Daniel leaned forward and again their lips met. Could a touch be more perfect? Soft and gentle, warm from the cocoa and Daniel’s on body heat. Without thinking Nate let his free hand wrap around Daniel’s shoulders, and the other man let it happen. Time must have meant something still during that contact, but that didn’t mean Nate could really feel it passing. The moment was infinite, and so painfully fleeting as Daniel finally pulled back and looked up at Nate, a slight smile curling his lips. 

“If that’s what you want, who am I to do anything to stop you?” Daniel said, his voice a whisper that made Nate want to lean in again and rejoin their kiss, just for the simple pleasure of the contact. But he kept the space between them, smiling back at the look he was given. 

“So you don’t disapprove? People seem to think it would be a way for me to throw away a sure thing.”

“People don’t know what it’s like to need a fresh start sometimes,” Daniel chuckled, shifting once more so he was sitting with most of his weight resting against Nate once more. “Shaun and myself? We’ve been through it. This is our second chance, our new shot at life because of our own decisions. If I let myself have that, how could I be so hypocritical as to deny it to you? I told you, ‘do good for your fellow man’ is my mother’s motto. How can I not apply it to you?”

Nate chuckled and draped his free arm over Daniel’s shoulder, pulling him closer. For a time he was just going to enjoy the contact. Until it was taken from him so Daniel could sleep, he was going to enjoy this. The warmth, the companionship, and most definitely the support Daniel was offering. 

“If you want, I’ll even help you find a job, if you’ll do one thing for me first,” Daniel said, amusement in his voice. 

“What’s that?” Nate asked, smiling himself, even though Daniel wouldn’t see it. 

“Could you reach over there and get me my cocoa?”


	20. Interlude Seven

It was a noble gesture, Daniel mused as he took the final sip of his cup of coffee and stared at the laptop in front of him. If nothing else, he thought he deserved credit for the offer, for the putting himself out there and trying to help Nathaniel figure out how he was going to go about his new life. If Nate was willing to put himself out there, do something a bit ‘crazy’ by choosing to live in a city he’d only been in for two and a half weeks, Daniel intended to make it as easy as possible for him to commit to that intention. The only problem, he had realized, was that he’d never really done the whole job search thing himself. When he was in high school he’d just worked for Shaun’s family like his mother had. When they’d come here together and Shaun’s uncle paid for his apprenticeship to a locksmith, Daniel had been getting a degree in business and accounting so he could learn to manage the business in the areas Shaun wouldn’t know how to do. In that time he’d done any work he could find on campus, from typing up notes for people to paid editing and even a semester working in the business office before he’d been let go because he’d suggested his boss’s organizational habits were less than effective. 

Never once had Daniel gone through the process of apply and apply and apply and apply until it felt like your hand was going to fall off. He hadn’t really gone through the classifieds in hopes to find something, hadn’t clicked through page after page of items online in hopes of finding something that appealed. So really, Daniel was more here to provide a laptop and support. Which meant he really wasn’t useful at all. 

“What about this one?”

Daniel looked up from his laptop and across the table to where David was sitting. The other man had noticed the identical efforts Nate and Daniel had gone to yesterday morning with Shaun’s assistance. Well, mostly Shaun sat there and made jokes about jobs that Nate could do because he would look good or bad in the clothes that went along with it. Needless to say, nothing had gotten done until David had come over to investigate. It was only with the offer from the more experienced man that the pace had gotten relaxed that day, leaving Daniel comfortable enough to head to work with Shaun, leaving Nate at the cafe until David was off work. But now, here he was, sitting in a booth and giving up his Saturday afternoon in the hopes that he might find something. 

At least he wasn’t alone. David’s question made Nathaniel, who was sitting with his side pressed against Daniel’s so they could look at the laptop together as they searched, shifted so he could lean forward and look at the newspaper. David was tapping an ad he had circled in pen. 

“It’s a security firm that is taking applications,” David explained. “I looked it up on my phone and they contract with the college campus and with the museums in the area. I bed with your military background you should be able to make it through with a minimal application and even your lack of so called ‘work experience.’ Hours will probably be hell because you’ll be a new hire, but it’s the kind of thing that should probably keep you for years if you want it.”

Daniel looked hopefully at Nate. The thing sounded perfect. Someone Nate’s size and build would definitely seem more imposing and thus suited to the job. If they had any weapon licensing processes he should pass them quickly enough. And he probably knew how to take people down if he had to given his training. 

Yet Nate just shook his head at that.

“It’s a nice offer, I admit,” Nate shrugged. “Put it in the maybe pile?”

“Maybe?” Daniel couldn’t help but ask, and then there was a foot, David’s he assumed, that kicked him under the table. Why would he do that? 

“Maybe it is,” David said quickly, clearly trying to give Nate a reason not to answer. Yet there Nate was, turning to look at Daniel and laying his hand over Daniel’s. The touch was a point to focus on, which made him feel good. 

“I’d be happier to not be put into a position where I could be called upon to genuinely hurt someone,” Nate answered, his voice soft. “I’ve done enough of that for a lifetime.”

“Chances are you’d never have to,” Daniel pointed out, frowning up at Nate. 

“I know,” Nate assured him, squeezing his hand. “That’s why it’s a maybe unlike the suggestion that I go into the police academy.”

Daniel nodded in agreement even if he didn’t understand, and tried to keep his smile calm. But he didn’t understand. Then again, he’d never been through the things he suspected a soldier went through. All he could do was sit here and be supportive. Which, he realized, he liked the thought of. Yes, he was used to being supportive because he had only ever been that to Shaun, but knowing that Nathaniel had someone to fall back on if he really needed it? That was amazing. It was… powerful in its own way. 

“Alright, so security guard on the maybe list,” David repeated, pushing the listing over to Daniel, who shifted over to his spreadsheet. It had been David who had suggested the means of organizing a job search, noting it could make it so much easier remembering where you’d applied, where you hadn’t heard back from, and the like. “We’re doing pretty good here. I think that’s nearly the end of this paper. How about we finish the things we have open in front of us and take a break?”

Daniel smiled in relief. This whole process was oddly draining. 

David finished his newspaper page after a minute and then slid it aside. He nodded to them both and pulled out his phone as he slid out of the booth. There, then, was the real reason he wanted to take a break. Daniel had to assume that he had gotten a text from York and wanted to respond sooner rather than later. At least the smile he saw David wearing was the same one that Daniel had grown used to seeing when David came to serve them in the mornings. But it did mean Daniel was left alone with Nate, and with a sigh he leaned over a bit to rest against his boyfriend’s shoulder.

“So… what do you think of the tedium of the civilian world now that you’re back to it?” Daniel sighed, closing his eyes. He could feel the material of Nate’s shirt pressed against his cheek. It was a sensation he was used to. Thursday night, on the couch with Nate, he had found himself growing familiar with Nate’s sweatshirt. Despite how often he had reminded himself that he was going to sleep in his own bed, the warm feeling in his gut from the hot chocolate and the warmth of his boyfriend against him, had lulled him like nothing else. Thus he had fallen asleep resting against the other man, and woken only when he had seemed to be floating on a sea. His eyes had opened to see Nate over him, to watch the apartment moving around him. He’d stayed quiet and still all the way to his bed and cling to Nate’s sweatshirt in hopes he wouldn’t go. 

But that had been two nights ago. Now he just closed his eyes, breathing in the freshly laundered scent of Nate’s sweatshirt and focusing on the touch of the fabric. 

“It’s good,” Nate answered, his voice a low rumble that Daniel could almost feel through his cheek. “It’s nice to be involved in something like this. This is something I tried to protect. It’s actually kind of nice to know I can have something like this myself. But we don’t need to rush this, Daniel. It’s not like I can start before the reunion. And my savings will keep me for a decent bit. Not that your assistance isn’t important to me. I just can’t see you so stressed over this.”

Daniel chuckled, but he didn’t move. “Kind of you to worry about me, but it’s more than that. It’s like David said yesterday. It’s easier to really make a life for yourself in a new place when you have something to do. Something to be. And as he just picked his life up and moved across more than half the country to be here, I’d put some weight in what he said.”

“Perhaps,” Nate answered, and when his hand touched Daniel’s shoulder, Daniel knew he was being asked to sit up. “Here, I’m going to get you some more coffee, maybe a treat. Sound good?”

“I’d like a…”

“Banana nut muffin,” Nate said, and when Daniel looked up at his boyfriend, he saw a fond smile on his lips. “I remember. Be back soon, okay?”

“You better,” Daniel found himself saying, and the smile he was given in response was beautiful. God, how had he ever gotten so lucky?

* * * * * *

Nathaniel took a moment to smile at his boyfriend after he had stood. Already Daniel’s attention had returned to the computer screen. Even telling the man to take it easy didn’t seem to have much weight, but he wished it did. But if it did, well then Daniel wouldn’t be Daniel. He wouldn’t be strong and focused and intense in a way that caught Nate’s eyes. Or maybe it was something else entirely. But it wasn’t time to contemplate such a thing. No, what he needed to do was get that treat and drink for his boyfriend so they could go back to work. 

With that in mind he turned away from the table, moving toward the counter instead. The timing, perhaps, could have been better, because as he moved forward, the woman at the counter made a step backward, gesturing wildly with the mug of presumably scalding hot coffee. Someone shorter, perhaps Daniel, would have been struck in the face by the mug held by the tall blonde, but for Maine the unintended blow was aimed for his shoulder. Accidentally aimed, of course, not that it hit. His reactions were far better than that, and when he saw it coming, Nate’s hands came up to block the blow, one grabbing the woman’s wrist, the other near her elbow. It immobilized the arm, and sure, a bit of coffee slouched out onto his hand, but he just grit his teeth against the pain. 

Someone else might have yelped in shock, or screamed, or cursed. The woman didn’t behave in any way that Nate might have expected to find in someone in a cafe. Instead she dropped her mug, and while Nate’s attention was on that and the pending pain of hot coffee splashing onto his shoes and seeping through the cloth of the material, would probably even stain it. The thought was a passing one because in moments something else entirely was happening. The distraction, because he understood a moment late that was what was going on, worked well enough for him to be unprepared for the woman to step back, her heeled boot slamming toward his instep. Nate saw it coming just in time to slip his foot away from her attack, and then he was pulling and twisting her arm back with him. The goal was to twist it behind her back, but the woman was spinning around and Nate was in shock as her poisonous green nails moved for his face. 

“Alexa!” a sharp voice called out, that of the proprietor he thought. The kind woman known as Connie who Shaun called Rebecca, and who looked at Nate without really talking to him all that much. “Stand down!”

The order was barked with such a commanding tone that even as the woman relaxed, Nate let her go and snapped to attention. The blonde, though, had an entirely different reaction once she was released. 

“You fuck, you got my fucking coffee spilled and broke the damn mug!” the woman growled, turning on him, and then she just stopped. Nate could see her staring at him, and it was only then that it occurred to him that he was still stiffly at attention. Embarrassed and with a pained hand, Nate moved past her, reaching for the towel the woman behind the counter was holding out toward him. 

“You’re the one who was flailing everywhere, Alexa,” Connie insisted. “In fact, the only reason you dropped the coffee was because of you, and you burned his hand.”

“Hey, it’s not my…” Alexa started to protest as Nate worked on drying his hand. 

“Get the mop and clean up,” Connie insisted, and Nate just went still, shocked by the statement. Even if these two knew each other, which it seemed they did, how could Connie demand something of a paying customer? But his question was brushed off as Connie turned her attention back to Nate. “Got to admit, I’m a bit impressed. Alexa isn’t exactly easy to stand up to. But you are David’s soldier friend, aren’t you? He’s told me about you.”

“He has?” Nate asked, not bothering to look at Alexa as she stormed off toward the back room, presumably to get a mop. Part of him wanted to look back toward Daniel, but he didn’t want to be rude to the woman before him. And he had something he had to do here anyway. “Two coffees, banana nut muffin, lemon bar.”

“He has,” she agreed, moving to get the treats onto a plate. Not that it stopped her from talking to him. “That was pretty impressive, what you did to Alexa. That’s going to leave her ego sore.”

“She’s pretty good,” he answered simply, still a bit shocked by how that had played out. 

“She’d tell you off course she was, but she has been training for a long time,” Connie responded as the pastries went onto plates. “She’s a MMA fighter, owns a gym around here where she trains people to fight. How to defend themselves.”

Nate just hummed his acknowledgement. It made sense. Since coming back from the states he’d learned about this whole ‘mixed martial arts’ thing, and wasn’t quite sure what to think of it. But clearly it had some value. The thing is, he didn’t quite know why he should care about what this woman was telling him. And then it hit him, late of course. 

“You heard us talking,” Nate noted as the small brunette moved to the coffee machine and filled up two mugs from the carafe of full caf. When she turned back to face him, he was graced with a wide, playful smile. 

“Actually, David asked me yesterday if there was any chance we had an opening for you,” Connie admitted as she returned to the counter with the mugs and put them down just long enough to pick up a tray to move the mugs and sweets onto. 

“You said no.” The statement didn’t need made, but clearly the woman was trying to have a conversation, and he was expected to respond. Which was only polite considering the fact that he’d been here with Daniel since earlier in the morning. 

“Yep,” Connie chuckled, sliding the tray toward him as Alexa returned with the mop and a bucket. “Because I’m full up on employees right now. But I think you might be pleasantly surprised if you asked Alexa about her gym.”

“No he won’t,” Alexa gruffed, and Nate rolled his eyes. He just passed some cash across to Connie and lifted the tray. 

“Wait!” Connie snapped at them both, sounding far from amused. When he looked at her again he found a dark expression on her face. A quick glance at Alexa revealed she seemed a little cowed by that. “Come on, dear, don’t be so rude. This guy clearly could have put you on your fucking ass. But from what David says, he’s a Marine. Come on, dear, you could use that.”

“I don’t hurt people,” Nate responded gruffly. 

“I don’t need some jarhead oaf to hurt people,” Alexa countered as she mopped up the floor, pushing pieces of cup around like she didn’t understand how to clean at all, or didn’t care. 

“Wow,” Connie sighed. “You’re both just stubborn fools. Okay, let me put it more bluntly. Nate, was it? Well, sure, Alexa could use a trainer there to help out the normal customers, but mainly she needs someone who will help her with self defense classes, which isn’t about hurting people so much as keeping people from getting hurt by those who would take advantage of them. Alexa, you were saying you needed a new assistant for those classes, and might it not be better for some of those women to see how effective what you’re teaching them could be against a man his size? Talk about a confidence boost.”

“Self-defense?” Nate asked, finally looking to the blonde woman. There was an implication there which had him really listening. Women in self defense classes that would need a confidence boost against… “Oh.”

“Yeah, oh,” Alexa answered, shaking her head. She stopped mopping and leaned heavily against the stick of the mop. “But doesn’t sound like a good idea to me. Big mindless brutes aren’t useful.”

Frowning he stooped to start picking up some of the shards of the mug. “Some of the men in this world are big, mindless thugs who have reach, weight, and size on women. If you’re teaching a woman to defend herself, it’s better if she got to apply some of what she learned against someone who looks as scary as the people who might go after them.”

“Alexa…” Connie said softly as Nate stood and placed the pieces of the mug on the counter, “you should at least try him out. Please? For David.”

When Nate’s attention returned to the blonde woman he watched her look him up and down, biting her lip. Then, with a sigh that seemed to say ‘I’m only doing this out of the kindness of my heart, she nodded.’ 

“Well, Bunyan, you interested?”

“Bunyan?” Nate asked. Something told him that if he knew this woman long, that name was going to stick. But when she didn’t explain he nodded. “Get another coffee and come sit down. Let’s talk business. I think we’ll be able to help each other out.”

“Only if you’re buying the coffee, Bunyan.”

“As much as you need,” Nate promised. Truth be told, he had a damn good feeling about this. 

“Well then, Bunyan, I have a feeling this is about to be the start of a beautiful relationship.”

* * * * * *

There were a lot of ways it could have gone differently. Ways it might not have gone at all. For one thing, Shaun could have taken care of his own shopping on that day they had met, or Stephen could have chosen to drop his cousin off at another store. For another Daniel could have asked to accompany Shaun on the installation at Flower’s home that afternoon, or Nathaniel could have taken his cousin up on the offer to buy more clothes first. Daniel could have asked David for a ride to the store or Nate could have just stayed on the couch. So many different things that could have spun out in so many different ways. Any number of minute differences and it might not have happened, their lives would have been quieter, separate, untouching.

As it was Daniel stood on the street outside of his apartment, bundled up in warm pajamas, his green coat, and Nathaniel’s large white hoodie as he watched his boyfriend climb into Stephen’s car. The cousins had a long ride, and an even longer talk, ahead of them, not to mention their family. Daniel had a day of business and a lazy weekend where he just stayed in his apartment and traded texts with the man that would soon be back and sleeping on his couch again. Soon enough he’d have breakfasts with his boyfriend and best friend, chatting over Shaun’s head in French with David, and laughing together. There would be a kiss on Daniel’s forehead before he and Shaun went to the shop and Nate went to meet Alexa to start his first real day on the job.

But that was a weekend away, and the last week together had been amazing, even if he had lost so much of it in the name of Nate training under his new, demanding boss. Still, with the way everything was fitting together almost perfectly, with the right circumstances dealt to him at just the right moment, things were changing. Without this, without singing in that grocery store, and a chance of overheard lyrics, his life would have been very different.

Now though, standing there on the sidewalk, wrapped up in layers of warmth and the remembered pressure of the gentle kiss on his lips from his new boyfriend, Daniel Lauve, knew that going all in had been the right choice. Surely only good could come of it.


	21. Part Fourteen

As much as Alex loved to travel, there was nothing in the world he disliked more than the actual act of travelling. Everything was all well and good when he was there, at whatever destination that he or his employers wanted him at. There were people, there was food, there were pictures to be taken and stories to be shared and joy and laughter and all the little things that make up the human condition. He could enjoy the simple pleasure of watching the sunset with the people who had seen it from a place thousands upon thousands of times. Sometimes there was a pleasure to be had in struggling out of a hammock under a bug net in the wee hours of the morning to take pictures of the women of a community making early morning meals. And there was nothing that was quite so much fun as laying out and watching the stars from a place he had never seen them before. So there were hundreds of things to recommend the experience of travelling abroad to him, not to mention the job and the pay. There was, though, a rather substantial reason he didn’t like the experience at all. The chief among them, of course, was the length of the actual legs of travel. 

Maybe that was why he’d slept through the last leg of the journey, or at least he assumed he had. Because there were fingers pushing over and over into his shoulder, each push harder than the last. The source of it was more than clear, though, he knew there was only one possible way it could be happening, and so Alex slowly cracked his eyes open, just a bit, and glared at his sister through the slits. 

She looked almost exactly like she had when he’d left. Somehow, in all the time he’d been gone, Alexa hadn’t dyed her hair once. He knew because they Skyped often enough that he was certain he wouldn’t have missed a new flash of color in her hair. For now, though, he knew the reason for it was that it might clash with the costumes she had worked with her girlfriend to create for Halloween this year. Still, it was strange. Otherwise, though, she looked so good. Alexa looked like home. Which was why, he supposed, he’d grabbed her in his arms the second he’d caught sight of her in the baggage claim and just held her there, smelling her hair and squeezing her until she reached down and pinched his leg and made him yelp in pain. Just like every other time he left and she was there when he came back. But that had been a while ago, before the drive home, and now…

“We’re here,” she informed him simply. “Congratulations, you’re just a short walk away from completing your second twenty-four hour journey in a month. Give or take.”

North smiled warmly at her with that comment. “I have no clue how the hell I’m going to get back onto a regular sleep schedule,” he informed her simply. 

“There’s a glass of water and a box of benadryl on your nightstand just in case,” Alexa assured him. “I ordered pizza for dinner last night, with all your favorite toppings, so it’s cold in the fridge to act as your dinner…”

“Not having a welcome home dinner with me?” Alex asked, feigning offense as he unbuckled himself and twisted around in his seat to grab his carry-on bags. “Mind if I leave my luggage in the trunk?”

“It’s Wednesday,” Alexa shrugged. “I’ve got my first major self-defense session tonight at the gym, and since I’m going to introduce the new punching bag to the girls, I need to be there before they come in. I don’t want Bunyan scaring them with his big man routine. Gotta tell them that he’s a gentle giant.”

Alex had to pause at the name ‘Bunyan,’ because honestly he didn’t think he’d heard that name often before. Clearly it was a nickname, and if he tugged at his memories he thought he remembered something Alexa had said a while back about hiring a new instructor for her gym. Once he had that thought recaptured he managed to tease out a few more memories, of former-Marine she had been convinced to take on. Her latest reports had the man working there maybe a week or so already, but apparently not having met her most important students. And he couldn’t get in the way of that. 

“I’ll try to stay awake long enough to see you,” Alex offered, but he knew the chances were that he was going to crash and crash hard soon. “You’ll get my bags?”

“Yeah,” Alexa agreed. “I promise. Now get yourself fed and maybe a shower, okay?”

Alex chuckled as he got out of the car. Somehow he even found the strength to wave at her as he hefted his camera gear over one shoulder and his travel bag over the other. She waved right back and then the car was going and with a sigh Alex turned his attention to his watch. He took a moment to consult his phone for the time and then reset his watch to the proper time. Half past six. With a smile he shook his head and headed into the apartment building. He didn’t meet anyone on the way to his door, and in a way he actually felt a bit disappointed. Part of him had hoped that he’d run into David. E-mails alone weren’t nearly enough between them, especially considering how they had skimped on any meaningful conversation. But he could wait until tomorrow to greet his neighbor once again and start on something he’d intended to do a month ago: winning that kiss. 

The apartment was warm, and Alex beamed at that. Alexa liked it cooler than that, and normally Alex liked it even warmer, which was why he had a mound of blankets near his bed. But just for him she’d turned it up, to welcome him home. Granted it wasn’t going to last into the morning, but to walk into the living room and feel the warmth of it and find that it wasn’t a total mess made him so damn happy his head wanted to spin. Not that he should have been surprised at the cleanliness. Chances were Alexa had spent most of her time with Connie, and Alexa had gotten worlds neater since she’d started dating that beautiful little woman. 

His equipment went into the front closet, he could unpack better tomorrow, and the other pack he tossed in the general direction of his bedroom. It took little effort to get himself a plate of pizza and a bottle of cranapple juice that was only ever in the house for mixed drinks. Deciding Alexa wouldn’t miss it he took the whole mess to his room, nudging the bag into his room once he got the door open. With his meal in hand he toed off his shoes, pulled all of his blankets onto the bed in a thick draping of future warmth, and then snuggled himself under it. To his own surprise he even managed to get the whole slice of pizza and half of the juice in himself before he fell asleep.

He jolted awake suddenly at a pounding next to his head. Eyes wide with fear and his heart racing he struggled to sit up, to tear out of the confines of his blankets as the slamming happened again, this time punctuated by a groan on the other side of the wall. Why did that seem important? There was something on the other side of the wall, his weary mind knew that, was certain of it. Why was it important? He didn’t know why, but he knew it was absolutely important that he move. That he help. That he save… who?

Even not knowing he struggled against his blankets, his eyes flying to his alarm clock. Eight at night, he’d been asleep for so little time, and now he needed to be a hero. But he could do this. All he had to do was get out of the bed, which only needed him to untangle himself from the last big of blanket which was caught around his ankle from trying to kick it all off. 

The pounding came again, came sooner. Some part of his head said there was a pattern to it and that meant something too. But it was pushed aside as he remembered the last pattern of hits. 

“David,” he gasped in shock as the memories slipped back in place. 

He wasn’t the only one to call that name, though. Not even the loudest. 

“David,” someone moaned loudly on the other side of the wall, and Alex tumbled out of the bed as he tried to move forward, even though he still hadn’t freed his ankle. And, sprawled on the floor he thought he recognized that voice. 

“Harder,” David’s voice moaned loudly, leaving Alex stunned on the floor at the sound of it, high and nearly keening with pleasure. Not pain. Pleasure. “Please, Shaun, please!”

Alex reached up and forced himself free of the blankets from where he laid on the floor, all the while forced to listen to the shameless moans of pleasure. Some part of his head reminded him that it was supposed to be once. One night. Hadn’t that passed? Why hadn’t David told him? How had he missed? What had he done wrong? 

Foot free Alex stood, grabbed his pillow, juice, and the box of benadryl and shuffled off to Alexa’s room. It wasn’t often he violated the sanctity of her private space, nor did she. But here and now he needed to be surrounded by her things, and away from that noise. He curled up under her blankets, took a pill and his juice, and tried to struggle back to sleep. Not that he could sleep. How could he ever sleep knowing what he knew now? 

For a long while he stayed there until he heard the apartment door open and a quiet voice call out his name. Not that he responded. It was a few minutes before Alexa came into her room, not turning the lights on. There was the quiet sound of shoes coming off, of someone changing, and then her voice came out in a whisper. 

“Scoot over, okay?”

Alex didn’t question, just obeyed. For the first time in a long time his sister settled down into the bed with him, her arms loosely around his waist. 

“We’ll talk about it in the morning, okay? I promise. For now, just rest. I promise it won’t be so bad by the light of day,” she whispered. 

“Shaun is fucking him against my bedroom wall,” Alex said bluntly. 

“Except maybe that,” she sighed. 

“You didn’t tell me,” he whispered, waiting for his sister to answer that. “We spoke nearly every morning for me, and yet you never said anything about…”

“Do you really think I keep that close of tabs on our neighbor’s love life?” Alexa asked, but the softness to her voice said she knew. That she knew and she kept it from him. Why? Well, the answer was obvious, wasn’t it? She kept it from him because it would hurt him to hear, and Alexa knew the work was important. She was good at protecting him, usually in more subtle ways than he tried to protect her. 

“How long?” he asked, knowing he had to sound pathetic with that question. 

“From what I can tell from the gossip… before you even left town.”

Wow. That hurt a lot more than Alex had expected it to. Had… had they not been as close to something as Alex had thought they were? Had those near kisses at their dinner together been nothing? If he’d been able to stay, been able to talk to David, could it have been him in David’s apartment, drawing those lovely sounds from his lips? Not that Alex said any of that. Instead he just pressed back against his sister, thankful for the comfort she offered. Together they laid in the silence and he hoped sleep would come. Sleep and relief from his dashed dreams. 

* * * * * *

It was amazing the amount of housekeeping chores overlapped with the work he did these days. Back in Seattle he had avoided mopping floors, only helped wipe down tables when they were slow and he wanted to help out a bit, and dishes and cooking were never things David was expected to be responsible for at work. No vacuuming, no sweeping, none of the sorts of things that other employees were responsible for, because he managed the book. He handled reservations, he got people to tables, he kept things flowing at a reasonable rate and made business move along at a reasonable clip. Which meant those things he didn’t have to do at work were less annoying at home. But now, here, working for Connie, those things were all expected of him. He baked in the mornings with Caboose. He helped clean dishes when they needed another set of hands, and if things were slow he would sweep and mop parts of the cafe while Tucker took care of things behind the counter and Church took over dishes from Caboose. By the time David got home in the afternoons he wanted nothing at all to do with those standard chores, even as he moved through them.

Maybe that, he thought, was why he had become more comfortable, even amused, to work on laundry when he was home. Once this had been the thing he hated the most, but now as he walked into the laundry room of the apartment complex and listened to the sound of machines whirring around him, he found himself smiling. Just an hour or two of escape from the rest of the world. He came down with his basket, his phone, and a book he’d been meaning to read after Daniel had suggested it to him, and found himself more than prepared for whatever would come after he had the clothing dealt with. David had come to find laundry to be a pleasant way to pass his Thursday evenings, because there were less residents using this room then. In fact, the only one he ran into with any real regularity was Mrs. Harmon from the fourth floor who was a cat owner who cleaned her favorite shirts and pants every few days to manage cat hair. David was pretty sure that was overkill, but he enjoyed chatting with the older woman, who always spoke of the antics of her pets.

Sorting laundry was probably his least favorite part of the whole experience, and so when his phone chirped to announce he had a new text in the middle of him separating his blues from his grays, David couldn’t help but fish it out. He contemplated the name on it as well, and didn’t know how he felt about the idea of Donut having his number. Still, he opened the text and frowned at the message within. Vague. Donut was always vague when he was excited.

Dude, you would NEVER guess who came into the cafe not long after you left! <3

No, he probably wouldn’t unless the answer was Alexa and Nate, who apparently came in regularly in the second shift, taking a brief break from work and probably timed so Nate could bring Daniel a coffee before they went back to the gym. Still, experience told him that if he didn’t respond to Donut now, he was never going to be free of the man’s texts. Conversation was Franklin’s lifeblood, and David would be expected to feed him.

As David started to type out his response he heard the click-groan that meant the laundry room door was open. Mrs. Harmon was early today, but it wasn’t like she was regular down to the minute for her schedule, nor that David was. The companionship of the kind older woman would definitely help relax him in the face of Donut’s gossip mongering.

“Good evening, Mrs. Harmon. How’s Snugglepaw this evening?”

“I don’t know,” a low, rich, and long missed voice responded, freezing David where he stood, “I haven’t seen Snugglepaw or Mrs. Harmon in nearly a month.”

That, some small part of David’s head, told him what Donut was on about. Had it really been a month? Had that much time really passed, leaving him here unprepared to see the man that he… No, he wasn’t going to think of Alex like that, he’d told himself that when he’d thrown himself into Shaun’s arms and asked for more. He had assured himself of it the morning Alex had come to his door for a goodbye hug, which David had willingly given, trying not to think about the strength of this arms, and how gently they held him. Shaun clung to him with a need, whereas Alex’s hug had offered strength that David hadn’t thought to ask for. And speaking of strength.

David steeled himself, put a welcoming smile on his face, and turned to look at Alex. Wow he… looked even better now than he’d looked before he’d left. His pale skin was a bit deeper in tone, probably a result of a lot of time outside in what was nearly summer in the southern hemisphere. And his hair seemed an even more radiant blond, a sun bleached sort of gold that made the smile he wore even more radiant. Why in the world had the man needed to become even more handsome than he had been before?

“Alex,” he smiled and made sure his welcome was warm as he strode forward and offered his hand.

“David,” Alex greeted him right back as they shook hands. “Been a while. Got to say, seems like you’re really settling in here.”

“Because I’m doing laundry?” David asked as Alex released his hand and slipped past him with a large basket full of clothes.

“No. I’d point out that you’ve been here for over a month now, and from the sound of it, you’ve certainly made some good friends.”

David’s hand fell limply to his side. What… was that supposed to mean? Had Alexa possibly been talking to her twin about Nate? David did spend time around the other man when he could, and he enjoyed spending some time chatting with Nate and Daniel in French when the other man was there, mostly so he could brush up on his accent. Unless he meant…

“If I can make a request though,” Alex said from near the washers where David had set his own things up, and David had to turn to look at him, to see the amused smirk on his lips, “can you and Shaun pick a different surface for your exercises? Because literally a few inches above and over from my head while I’m trying to sleep off some jetlag, really not the most exciting situation for me.”

Oh. God. He hadn’t considered that. Why had he never considered just what that was was? Hadn’t Alex come all but running to see him after he banged his head on that wall, not even all that hard. Of course the way he was with Shaun last night would draw attention. God, he’d been… Oh god.

His face felt like it was on fire, and David almost flinched when Alex’s hand settled against his arm. But it did shake him out of his thoughts and, still blushing, he looked up at the other man, who was looking down at him with concern.

“I’m sorry,” Alex said when their gazes met, his voice soft and concerned. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you like that. I wanted to let you know that it was a thing, and it would be really nice for me as your neighbor if you maybe avoided that spot in the future. I hear couches and beds are comfortable.”

Still David was blushing but he nodded in agreement. What made it worse was that he hadn’t been able to tell Alex that he was in a relationship since he’d left. He’d been avoiding the topic of Shaun in their e-mails back and forth every few days. Something in him had kept him from saying it time after time. Perhaps he’d been concerned that things wouldn’t work out with Shaun, or maybe he’d been certain of that same point. Thus he’d wanted to maybe leave things open for Alex. And now here he was, finding himself in an awkward position and maybe feeling just the littlest bit sick. He’d fucked up.

“Are you okay?” Alex asked, his voice still low, and it wrapped around David in all the best ways. Damn why did his neighbor have to be so attractive? Why did he have to think that they… almost had something? No, he’s in a relationship with Shaun and that was just that.

“Yeah,” David smiled at last, but the feeling in his stomach would not go away. “I…”

He was saved from having to fumble for words by his phone chirping again. Donut!

“Something important?” Alex asked as David moved back to his washer to grab his phone off of the mound of fabric in his basket.

“Not in the slightest,” David sighed, happy for a conversation topic. “Grif thought it would be funny if he gave my phone number to Donut. Not sure how Grif got it in the first place, but anyway…”

“You’re on the gossip list,” Alex provided for him, chuckling. “Yeah, I know the feeling. I managed to convince Donut that I prefer to be surprised by things, so he stopped contacting me. But he has a way of taking silence or indifference as failing to properly display excitement, can’t he? What’s the tidbit this time?”

Alex is back in town! How amazing is that? <3

“You’re back in town,” David informed Alex as he quickly sent off a confirmation to Donut. Maybe the brief ‘ok’ would suffice to shut the other man up. He’d rather experience the return of the man than hear about it from Donut.

“Oh really?” Alex grinned as he started to move fabric into the machine in front of him. “That’s definitely a good bit of gossip. If you didn’t hear it from him, how would you ever know?”

“I’m not entirely sure he knows you’re my neighbor,” David admitted with a shrug, slipping his phone into his pocket. Alex was definitely setting a good example for this whole laundry thing, and David quickly returned to sorting his darks from his lights. “Then again, he almost got the news to me before you walked into the laundry room.”

“Don’t tell him that. He’ll be sad to hear he was scooped so easily by an opening door.”

Yeah, he would be, and the thought of that finally brought a smile to David’s lips once more.

“He’s actually going to be upset with you,” David warns him. “How dare you tell people you’re here when it’s clearly his duty as gossip central to pass information along? You’d think he was being paid to do it.”

“Only paid in our distress,” Alex smiled. “But he’ll have to learn to handle it.”

David nodded in agreement as he finally finished his task and dropped a detergent tab into each of his two machines. “You know… there’s actually some use in that I guess. I mean, you could sit down with Donut for an hour or so and get caught up on all of the latest gossip. The stuff you missed that your twin and I didn’t think to share when we spoke with you.”

“I’ll keep that in mind when I see him tomorrow.”

“You know the cafe is closed tomorrow, right?” David asked. Maybe Alex didn’t know about the employee only party that had them closed tomorrow.

“The Halloween party,” Alex smiled, shaking his head at David. “You know, the one Connie has? As the twin to her girlfriend, I tend to have an invitation. Should… I be expecting Shaun there as well?”

David stared at him, but then nodded. “Of course. Do you… have time to get a costume together for the party?”

“Getting the finishing touches done a bit later today,” Alex smiled in response. “Don’t worry about me. Alexa and I are too big on Halloween to let something like me being out of the country keep me away from it.”

Well, David wasn’t sure how to feel about that, but he accepted it for what it was. And tomorrow, he realized, was going to have to live with being around his boyfriend and his neighbor. Somehow it only made the sourness in his stomach worse.

* * * * * *

Alex didn’t even bother to lock the apartment door as he reentered his apartment, just closed the door and left the laundry basket by the door. Moving the empty thing back to the bedroom when it was going to be needed to bring his laundry back up from the basement was foolish, but the one time just after moving in that he’d left the basket down there it had been stolen. So he left it, and the tub of detergent tabs, by the door and then sighed when he looked at the mess that was the living room.

“What took you so long?” Alexa asked from the couch, which was currently pushed as close to the television as she and Connie could get it while he was away. In the center of the space that had been cleared by the movement sat Connie on a small, spinning stool, and before her a small, sturdy stand.

So it was time. Alex sighed as he approached them and he tried to ignore his twin. Her perch on the back of the couch, slowly kicking her legs, never failed to bother him. The back of the couch wasn’t for sitting on, but as the women had decided to move the couch forward rather than back, he found he didn’t have a basis for complaint. Not a legitimate one at least.

“I met David down in the laundry room,” Alex answered as he moved up to Connie. She had a large sewing kit open in front of her, and when he got closer she stopped in adjusting a pincushion on her wrist so she could smile sympathetically up at him.

“Alexa told me what you heard,” she said, her voice soft. “I’m really sorry you had to find out that way.”

“Me too,” Alex agreed, more than a touch annoyed. The dirty look his sister returned when he glared at her was absolutely bored. “But it is what it is. So… I’ve got about forty minutes before I need to move the laundry. What do you need of me?”

“I need you to get changed and come back out here so I can check the costume,” Connie answered. “I hope you like it, just so you know, but it’s a little late to do massive revisions, so you better like it.”

“Even moping Alex isn’t so crass as to hate such a wonderful birthday present.”

Alex, halfway to his room, couldn’t help but notice the silence that came with that comment. Since Connie wasn’t exactly quiet when she was around Alexa, he had to go back and investigate. Instead of the making out he expected, though, he found Connie just staring at Alexa in open shock.

“You didn’t tell her our birthday?” Alex asked his twin, frowning as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“That… isn’t entirely true,” Alexa shrugged in response. “I did. I just… told her the wrong date.”

“Your birthday isn’t the seventeenth?” Connie demanded, pushing to her feet. Oh no… Alex did not want involved in this fight.

“Our birthday is Halloween,” he informed Connie simply as he turned away and moved toward his bedroom again. “That’s why it’s so important to Alexa and me. Our dad always made sure that Halloween was a big affair.”

“Alexa!” Connie snapped, and then Alex had the door closed between him and them. Let them hash out their pending argument on their own. Instead he focused on the creation hanging from the back of his door. When he reached out and touched the pale gold fabric he had to appreciate how soft it was, how the sheen of the fabric looked. With a smile he started to strip and work the thing onto himself. There was fabric in places he wasn’t expecting it, including a flow down his back that made zipping the thing up a big difficult, but in time he was done and moved to the mirror on the back of his closet door and had to smile at what he found. The toga was fanciful, spectacular, and it breathed like a dream. The fact that the hem of it fell to halfway down his calves was disappointing, but it wasn’t like Connie had his presence to properly hem it, so it would probably be one of the first things she handled. After all, he’d picked up the slightest bit of a tan from his time in Australia, and damn if he didn’t want to show it off. He’d worn shorts for a reason.

“There he is,” Connie said when he came back out, the mood clearly having calmed down while he was gone. After all, Alex could see the way her lipstick was smeared just a bit, the color of it faint on Alexa’s lips.

“Too long,” Alexa declared from the couch, where she had recovered one of her martial arts magazines that he was certain she had read a hundred times, and was now flipping through the pages. “Gonna have to fix that, Connie.”

“I have to agree,” Connie said thoughtfully as she gestured Alex closer. “I need you to spin around for me, show it off. Come on, be the model you are meant to be.”

“I’m not a model,” Alex rolled his eyes. “I’m the person that tells models that stuff.”

“Wanted you to hear how ridiculous it sounded when you took those shots of me,” Connie breezed, but her fingers gestured for him to turn, and so he obeyed.

Of course when he did so, he made sure to do it slowly, because the last thing he wanted to do was show off the boxers he was wearing under the outfit. The simple process of walking out to the two women had revealed to him how the garment swirled around him. Spinning quickly might kick it up quite a bit, not something he wanted to risk right now. As he moved he could hear Connie hum thoughtfully, and before he was done spinning she reached up, grabbed his wrist, and stopped him.

“That’s good. Now get up here for me. We need to get this hem to a better place.”

Alex sighed and stepped up onto the stool as she had indicated, and tried to keep himself calm. But the silence in the room was a little too much, to be honest. Connie’s humming as she worked and Alexa’s wordless flipping through pages, it was just too quiet. He didn’t want to be alone with his thoughts right now which he was pretty sure was a reasonable thing.

“Why didn’t anyone tell me?” Connie went still and Alexa just flipped another page in her magazine, so Alex continued. “Was listening to them together really the best way for me to find out?”

“I’d point out that he didn’t tell you either,” Alexa pointed out. “You were e-mailing with him and he was the one who never said anything about dating the scarred lackluster.”

“Hey,” Connie protested.

“Oh come on, you don’t like the guy much,” Alexa told her girlfriend almost immediately. “In fact, you were the one with the grand plan that involved telling Shaun and David both that Shaun wasn’t good enough for your best friend. See how well that went?”

“Alexa,” he sighed, shaking his head as he listened to his twin, “don’t. Opinions can change. That doesn’t explain why you kept me in the dark.”

“Why should I know or care about your not-boy-toy?” Alexa asked, but her voice wasn’t as harsh as it could have been. “I… I’m sorry, Alex. I just…”

“Didn’t want to upset me,” he provided, turning to look at her. Connie had already resumed her work. “Yeah. I know. I get it. Ignore it. I’m over it. So… tell me about this new guy working at the gym.”

That, at least, was a topic Alexa was apparently willing to talk about at length. Alex listened quietly, not paying too much attention as she detailed all the ways that ‘Bunyan’ was working out for her. Apparently the new instructor was a dream with the normal students, and introducing him the night before to the more timid ones had proved to be… difficult. Of course the women had apparently warmed up a bit when he just stood there as Alexa threw him around and then let the students do the same. Not everyone was his fan, so to speak, but time would probably deal with the root of that. She hoped.

“Stay still,” Connie sighed, and when Alex looked down at her he found the small woman shaking her head in exasperation. “God, you’re worse than Alexa.”

Before this he hadn’t thought to pay too much attention to what Connie was doing, so it was then that he noticed the height she was pinning the fabric up to. He was a little bit bothered by the fact that the fabric was now going to fall far above his knee, to the point where the bottom of his boxers were clearly visible, but he had to assume it would be okay. He trusted her. Still, this was not the sort of thing he could leave uncommented on.

“Well excuse me, I’m just not used to people being in the position to so effectively stare at my ass.”

The comment earned him a smile from Connie and a huff from his sister. His attention stuck to Connie, though, as she gestured for him to turn for her once more. “If it helps, it’s a cute ass.”

It did, a little, because he knew that the comment would make Alexa scoff. When she did he smiled and turned for Connie. They were all silent again, happy to let Connie focus, until Alex caught sight of her gesturing him down. Then… well, the words came before he could stop himself.

“Sorry I’m so,” he said with a sigh, and then couldn’t find the word he was looking for. “I’m just so…”

“Upset,” his sister provided for him. “He’s been moping since he got back.”

“You would be too if you heard me sleeping with your romantic rival on the first night you were back in the country,” Connie defended him before turning her attention back to Alex. Before she could speak he was talking again, though.

“Might not have been so bad if someone had warned me,” he mumbled, and then he shook his head. “I’m sorry. I get it, I get why. I had just hoped…”

Alex turned when she pushed at his shoulder, and as she unzipped the hard to reach zipper on his back she continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “Take that off for me. I want to finalize that hem before I do any accent touch up.”

It was a dismissal, a very clear one, and Alex took it and ran. Well, no, he didn’t run. He just walked away to his bedroom and closed the door behind him. For a while he stood there, breathing slowly, and shaking his head. How was it possible he was this messed up over a guy? The word that came up as an answer was not one he wanted to think about, of course. Too serious, too soon, and definitely not fitting. Still, he found himself staring at the wall, as if he could will his vision through it so he could see David. But when they’d parted David had said he’d wait for his laundry downstairs.

With a sigh Alex got out of the costume and carefully set it aside as he dressed himself back up. David… tomorrow he was going to have to see David with Shaun more likely than not. How in the world was he supposed to get through that?

How was he supposed to be the loser in an unfought war?

* * * * * *

The problem with this new movie night arrangement was that Shaun’s couch didn’t really have the space for four people on it. Not, he supposed, that the needed space for all four of them to sit side by side. Daniel had taken to sitting on the floor, his head resting against Nate’s knees. They had tried a number of positions last time they had met up for this, but none had served for them all to be comfortable beyond this. Having one person sit in another’s lap just made David and Daniel uncomfortable. Having someone lay across the group meant popcorn was harder to reach. In the end Danie’s pile of pillows was the best thing he could ask for, and so they had moved on to the other major issue. Movie choice.

Why, David had to wonder, hadn’t they figured out how to do this comfortably in Daniel’s apartment, away from Shaun’s cheesy romance movies? Daniel had a couch and armchairs unlike Shaun. Daniel didn’t own cheesy romance movies so they could pick something else without Shaun playing the ‘my apartment my movies’ card. Then again, Nate seemed to enjoy the romcom drivel too, and Daniel’s television was too small for them to properly enjoy, so Shaun’s place was the only choice.

Or maybe he wasn’t so upset by the movie choice so much as it’s content. There was something about watching a romcom where the main character chose one potential love over another because the other wasn’t there wasn’t the best choice right now. Especially since Shaun was, vocally, protesting that the other man was better for her.

Maybe… it hit a bit close to home, in a way that David didn’t like. He was happy with Shaun, more than happy. Even when the man was annoying he managed to be sweet, and the level of consideration he offered David was impressive for someone who hadn’t figured things out in quite the way Alex had. Every time they were together Shaun turned his attention on David, a burning, intense attention, to praising and pleasuring him. Reinforcing that statement from the first night that letting the memory of his ex-boyfriend rule him was something he could get past. He was too strong. Ethan hadn’t been good enough to hold a claim on him now. He wasn’t good enough to be worthy of David’s notice or memory.

But this? This was pretty bad. Enough that David found himself shifting uncomfortably in his spot between Shaun and Nate. Shaun seemed a bit caught up in the movie, but every time David tried to figure out a better position, or some stray thought made him feel bad, Nate looked over at him. Never a direct glance, but David could see the glances anyway. So when the finally pushed to his feet, he wasn’t surprised that Nate rose with him.

“Going to get air,” David sighed, pushing past the big man and since he didn’t rush for the door he was a bit surprised to find that Shaun wasn’t grabbing him immediately. There was a brief moment when he looked back over his shoulder to figure out why, and what he found was Nate holding Shaun back. David wasn’t entirely relieved by that, but he took it in stride as he got out of the apartment and moved down the stairs as quickly as he could. Soon enough he was standing in the alcove just outside of the stairs, looking out to the dark city streets.

And then, of course, there were footsteps behind him. There was no way that set of people would leave him alone in his mood, not that he was very sure what the mood was. Only that the unsettling feeling in his gut was still there, so many hours after he’d seen Alex. Or maybe the movie had brought that unease back up to the surface. That being said, he was thankful when he saw Nate, not one of the two best friends. If he started talking about things, he didn’t want the other two to know what was going on. How he was confused and hurting.

Nate didn’t say anything, though, he just stood there, just inside the door, silent and pensive just like David was. That was… unexpected, but the other man did seem to be quieter when there wasn’t beer or French, but he had thought…

“Aren’t you going to ask what’s wrong?” David asked when he couldn’t take the silence anymore.

“Didn’t seem you wanted to say,” Nate shrugged, and David didn’t know what he had expected, but it wasn’t that. After all, he wasn’t sure he wanted to talk, but at the same time it had to seem that walking away like that meant he wanted someone to come after him to talk.

Truth be told, David didn’t know he wanted to at all. Talking couldn’t make it better, could it? No, not in the slightest, so why should he bother to?

“I’m just… dealing with some weird things right now,” David said at last. The silence really was worse than he wanted to deal with. It had to be filled, in the worst way.

“Seemed like it,” Nate agreed.

“There’s… Last night my neighbor came back from Australia and sorta caught Shaun and I…” David purposefully trailed off and Nate just nodded a little at that. What was it about this guy that made it so comfortable for David to talk to him?

He had a theory of course, based in how Nate had treated him the first time they had met. How Nate had always been willing to listen and had never judged him since then. It was a friendly sort of support he wasn’t even used to from Connie. Connie tried to make everything better. But Nate just let him figure it out himself, talk it out until it was better. Which was something David didn’t think he wanted to deal with this time. So he fought to let the silence settle over them.

For a while they stood there, David leaning against the cool concrete blocks behind him. It almost made it better. Almost made him feel less sick.

“Nate…?” he asked at length, and the man grunted in response. “How… do you know when you’re in love?”

When he looked to the larger man he just saw a shrug. “Not sure. Just know that there was something about him that made me stay. Made me want to stay, even though I didn’t know how I was going to do it. Guess maybe that’s how I know.”

“You told him?” David asked.

“Not sure I’m ready.”

It was a sentiment that David shared.


	22. Part Fifteen

The best part about Connie’s annual Halloween party was the fact that it kept the cafe closed for the day. Sleeping in on a Friday morning was pretty amazing in David’s mind, even if it was paired with the fact that there was a lot of other things about today that he wasn’t certain he wanted to have to deal with. For one thing, he was going to have to see Alex again, this time with Shaun around. For another there was the fact that he was going to be expected to interact with the Red Shift, made worse by the fact that Sarge would no doubt be there. And, of course, there was the fact that he wasn’t exactly the most excited about his costume, but he hadn’t known until recently that this party was even a thing, much less that he would be expected to dress up. Shaun, though, had come through for him. A bit. 

“I feel ridiculous,” David informed his boyfriend as they took the relatively short trek between Shaun’s apartment where they had changed and the cafe. 

Of course, who wouldn’t feel ridiculous with fake pointy ears hooked over his own, the bandana around his brow, and the strange combination of the store bought Spock costume and the piecemeal construction of the pirate ‘disguise’ around it. The only upside of his costume in his opinion, was that he wasn’t Kirk. The dubious honor went, of course, to Shaun. 

“Relax,” Shaun said, their fingers intertwined as they walked the road. David glanced out of the corner of his eyes at his boyfriend, frowning yet again over the eyepatch Shaun had insisted on wearing. Making fun of nearly losing his vision wasn’t something David was comfortable with, but Shaun had come up with the idea and been so excited about it that David hadn’t had the heart to protest. “This is just going to be a fun party that friends are having together, okay?”

David had to roll his eyes. “How would you know, Shaun? You’ve never been to this party before either.”

“Yeah, but they invited D and Nate, so clearly it’s meant to be friendly,” Shaun countered, grinning that charming grin that Shaun said made him the perfect Kirk. And thus David had been stuck as Spock with nothing like a scrap of logic to his name. Worse… pirate Spock. Seriously? 

“Just remember not to encourage my boss, who is my best friend in the world, to kill you for your stupidity,” David sighed as he moved them up to the door of the cafe. “Seriously, I’ve gotta side with her in any of this stuff. Best friend rules. You get that, right?”

“What a dramatic betrayal by my first officer,” Shaun said dramatically, in his best Shatner. Which was terrible. No one did a good Shatner, not even Shatner. 

David just rolled his eyes and pulled the door open for them before moving into the cafe. Once inside he found that he was far from the first there, though not too far from the last. The cafe was filled with the music from some Halloween music CD that Connie had said she was going to put on, and the decorations he’d been putting up the day before still decorated the shop without too much of a problem. Which, he thought, was sort of impressive in the case of the spider webs, because when he looked over at Caboose he found the young man hovering near Tex and Church, clad in a white robe with fake wings and a halo that hung almost a foot over his head, making his already impressive height perilous for the decorations. 

“Well, that’s probably an interesting interpretation,” Shaun said at David’s side, and when David looked, he saw the man’s gaze was on the same trio of Tex, Church and Caboose. 

“Interesting?” David asked. 

“Yeah,” Shaun sighed. David had told him quietly about the complication Tex apparently presented in Caboose’s life, and the pity Shaun had for him clearly extended to this moment. “See, that nice, almost pure school girl look with the leather coat over it and the prominent cross necklace? She’s clearly playing Buffy. And Church, with that hideous wig and the black leather coat? Spike. They’re characters from this show…”

“Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” David finished for him. Even though he hadn’t seen the show he’d heard a lot about it. Unsurprisingly from Church. “What about Caboose?”

“Well, there’s another vampire named Angel and… Well, I guess you could say there is definite unresolved tension there,” Shaun sighed. “Poor kid.”

“Don’t call him that,” David said reflexively. He’d gotten fond of the young baker, and the tone Shaun took toward him was hardly appropriate. 

“Yeah, you should call him daddy,” someone said in an awful attempt to sound like a woman. Sure enough, when David looked he found Tucker there in front of them, posing in what he clearly thought was a seductive manner in his sexy nurse outfit. David just rolled his eyes at the pure white stockings, the heels, and definitely the too-short skirt and shirt with a neckline that dipped so low that a woman would look completely indecent by traditional standards. On Tucker it all just looked silly. 

“That is so not happening,” Shaun giggled, shaking his head as David just frowned at Tucker. “Dude, did you seriously go with…”

“If you’ve got an owwie, I can kiss it better,” Tucker winked, which was when David realized the man had even gone so far as to put on lipstick and eyeshadow in a brilliant teal shade that matched his normal shirt. Interesting. It was even well done. David was certain Franklin had a hand in that. 

“The only ‘owwie’ I have is my sides hurting from how hilarious this is,” Shaun kept laughing, and David could hear him gasping in pain from his laughter. 

And as he turned to comfort his boyfriend he found himself instead smiling past him as the other two people he was looking forward to seeing (other than Connie of course), pushed through the doors. What a pair the two of them made in their costumes. The SPARTAN style armor that Nate had claimed to have back home was indeed impressive, right down to the artificially created wear on corners of the armor pieces and bits of dirt and other scuffs on the armor. Of course Nate’s face wasn’t visible through the helmet, but he knew the man must be bursting with pride, because the thing looked insanely good on him. Just as good as Daniel looked at his side. 

“Nate, Daniel,” he greeted the two, smiling as he moved past Shaun to offer his hand to Nate. 

“Spock,” Nate’s voice rumbled through the helmet. “You may call me Nate-135.”

“And I am Artificial Intelligence Program Delta,” Daniel smiled at David, and David had to smile back. Connie had outdone herself on the costume Daniel said she had helped him with. The green body suit had veins of slightly reflective green strips sewn into it, to bring him closer to the look of Cortana. The reason David and Shaun had left the other pair to change on their own was because Daniel had needed help from Maine getting skin painted green and ‘sealed’, not that David knew what was involved in that process. “Assigned to Nate-135. It is a pleasure to meet you, Spock.”

David had to chuckle at the pair, how serious they looked with their outfits. While David had never been a nut for the holiday, he had to appreciate the pleasure Daniel was radiating at his presence with his boyfriend. And damn if Nate didn’t look intimidating. 

“May I inquire as to what has caused Captain Kirk distress?” Daniel asked. 

“Nurse Tucker broke his brain,” David provided, stepping aside and looking back, to find Tucker gently rubbing Shaun’s back. “Tucker. Let him suffer if he can’t keep himself composed.”

Tucker rose his hands before him defensively before walking away to find someone to talk to, and so David returned his attention to his friends, leaving Shaun to his wheezing misery. 

“You two look good,” David told them, smiling warmly at his friends. “Why don’t you come and sit down with us to talk, okay?”

“Yes sir,” Nate confirmed. “Where should we…”

“Wash?” 

David frowned at Caboose’s voice and turned to look at the other man. He found Caboose standing there, frowning lightly. There was something sad about him that worried David. To see the cheerful man so upset bothered him, and so he waved briefly to Daniel and Nate behind him. 

“Get Shaun seated somewhere. I’ll join you guys in a few minutes with treats, okay?” David asked. 

“Right,” Daniel confirmed, moving forward to get Shaun. 

Meanwhile David gestured for Caboose to lead on and followed the younger man back to the kitchen. Once they were away from anyone else he stopped and waited for Caboose to face him. And what he found was concern on Caboose’s face. “Mister Alex is back,” Caboose said softly. 

“Yeah, I noticed,” David admitted. “We met up at the apartment yesterday and…”

“It wouldn’t be nice to hurt Mister Shaun by being too nice to Mister Alex around him,” Caboose said, his voice grave. And a bit personally hurt.

“Caboose, I wouldn’t…”

“Because it really doesn’t feel nice to be with someone and then have the someone look at another someone and forget you exist even though you are together and they forget that whenever the other person is there and…”

David moved without thinking. This wasn’t about him and Alex, or him and Shaun. This was about Caboose hovering around the boyfriend who didn’t claim him as a boyfriend even as they were dating, and who dropped him whenever a certain blonde woman showed up for him. He just hugged Caboose tightly and was shocked that the returned hug was almost painful in its intensity. 

“I’m sorry,” he gasped out, causing Caboose’s grip to loosen up a bit. “About Church being an idiot.”

“It’s okay,” Caboose whispered. “But I don’t want Mister Shaun to feel that either. So please be very fair to him. If you don’t want him you have to tell him. Can you promise to tell him?”

“I want him, Caboose, Michael, I promise you I want him. Just like I’m certain Church wants you. He just has to remember that, okay?” David said. “Do you believe me?”

“I want to, but… I don’t think it will happen.”

David resolved in that moment to give Church a piece of his mind, but he stayed there for a while, just holding Caboose tightly to him. His hands reached up to stroke Michael’s hair to soothe him, and it was only when the other man finally let him go that David pulled away. Carefully he took the halo from Caboose’s head and pulled back. 

“There you go. You look better like this. Now, mister baking angel, you go out there and ignore Church and have lots of help, okay?” 

Caboose nodded seriously and David sighed as he watched the younger man walk off, still clearly forlorn. David took a deep breath to calm himself. He wasn’t going to hurt Shaun, he was certain of that. Wasn’t he? He’d never hurt the man he was coming to love like that. And yet… 

No, he shook the concern off and headed back into the main room. He took a moment to fill some small plates with treats and then moved to the table he saw his boyfriend and friends had set up at. With Connie momentarily missing he smiled and put the treats down on the table for them, and found Shaun standing within second to embrace him. 

“Shaun?” he asked, confused a bit by the behavior. 

“Caboose told me you need a hug, and I had no reason to think he was lying,” Shaun assured him. “Now you just stand there and take it like a good first officer.”

“That’s why you did this,” David teased, chuckling. “You wanted me to help you make your ship sail, didn’t you?”

“Maybe…” Shaun grinned. “Can you blame me?” 

With that David found himself turned around and pulled close to Shaun. 

“No,” David admitted, and when they kissed it felt damn good.

* * * * * *

Happy birthday to him, Alex thought a bit sourly as he entered the cafe and first and foremost saw something he didn’t want. David and Shaun there together, standing near a table with a large man in armor and a very green Daniel, and the two of them were quite deep into a kiss that had Tucker and Donut making cheering noises. Alex tried not to look at them, instead turning his attention to one of the tables filled with people he knew better than the members of Blue Shift.

“Hey tall guy,” someone under a sheet greeted from a table to his side. “What are you supposed to be?”

Given the size and position of the sheet, Alex was pretty certain that he was looking at Grif. Something that he grew certain of when a hand slipped out from under the sheet to grab a cookie and pull it under so it could be consumed. Across from him sat Simmons in the best Ghostbusters style outfit he’d ever seen before. Interesting. Again Grif put nothing at all into his costume, and Simmons put in a level of detail that far exceeded even Alex’s hand made outfit.

“Someone who cares more about the holiday than you,” Alex smiled warmly down at Grif. “Come on then, aren’t you going to socialize with people, or are you only going to focus on stuffing your face?”

“You actually have to ask him?” Simmons asked, shaking his head. Alex couldn’t help but give him a pitying smile. Simmons returned with with a bit of a sigh.

“I don’t know why I try,” Alex admitted with a shake of his head. “I do like that you guys wore matching costumes, though.”

“Matching?” Simmons demanded, his tone clearly offended. Far beyond offended, horrified. “I’ll have you know that when I came over to his place to pick him up this afternoon he didn’t have a costume at all. So he just pulled the sheet off his bed, cut some holes in it, and said he was coming like that!”

Alex actually had to chuckle a bit at that. That sounded like Grif alright. “Well, at least he went that far for this. He could have just come in whatever he was wearing before.”

“In a way he did,” Simmons sighed. “So, uh, your skirt is kinda short, Alex.”

“It’s a toga, and nothing I could say would convince Connie to make it longer,” Alex smiled. “Apparently Greek gods are supposed to show a little leg.”

“Yeah, well, if you ask me it’s a bad decision,” Grif shrugged. “Gotta be cold out there with that skimpy thing you’ve got on.”

“You have no idea, sheet-boy,” Alex admitted with a sigh, shaking his head.

“Of course not, because he’s got a sweater and sweat pants on under that,” Simmons snapped. “The damn lazy…”

“Hey guys!”

The chipper voice of Donut cut Simmons off, leaving the man grumbling at the fact that he couldn’t even complain properly without someone interrupting him. But Alex’s attention was so far away from the disgruntled pair of ‘not dating’ Red Shift employees that it didn’t matter. He had to wonder if Donut had ever had someone so intently focused on him, because the tux-clad man looked a bit distressed from the way that Alex was staring at him.

“Hi Donut,” Grif greeted, Simmons mumbling a similar greeting as Alex stared the young man down.

“Donut,” Alex said as he pushed out of the booth and stood. The smaller man frowned up at him, his smile faded from Alex’s focus. Or so he liked to think. Good to know he could manage intimidating sometimes, even if he didn’t mean it.

“Uh, hey Alex,” Donut answered, his voice a tiny little meep. “What can Agent Double-0 Donut do for you?”

“What you’re good at,” Alex said, ignoring the immediate ‘bow-chicka-bow-wow’ across the room from Tucker and a ‘man don’t even go there’ from Grif. “We’re going to talk.”

“Oh!” came Donut’s cheerful reply almost immediately. “Yeah, that I can do. Come on, let’s get a seat!”

Alex followed the far too cheerful man to a table in a corner, and when the young man plopped down into a seat, Alex mirrored the motion far more sedately. There was a lot about Franklin Donut that Alex had never figured out how to handle, and chief among those was the sheer amount of energy the man possessed. Truth be told, he was more intense than even Connie could be when she was on a warpath. Well, not that he’d seen Connie on a warpath often, but she did become something like a cyclone of energy and intention, and he’d learned to stay out of her way as much as he could when she was like that. Donut, though, he was seeking out because otherwise he wasn’t going to get the answers that he needed.

“So you finally ready to let me catch you up on all of the absolutely juiciest gossip that you’ve been missing out on?” Donut breezed, and as the man adjusted the cuffs of his coat, he grinned. “Okay, so first of all while you were gone, Grif…”

“I don’t want to hear about Grif,” Alex admitted, cutting Donut off. Of course the smaller man tilted his head to the side at that statement, frowning in a sort of way that Alex was pretty certain was disapproval. “Can you tell me how David’s been doing?”

There was silence for a few minutes, and then Donut was sighing, his shoulders sagging as well.

“I think I get it. You’re into him, right?”

Alex stared at Donut in shocked horror. Was he really that transparent? No, that wasn’t even possible, but maybe he had been a bit too forceful when it came to asking about David. Still, there was no way anyone but his sister and Connie could know. Except, maybe, David, if he had felt the same tension the night they had dinner that Alex had. But seeing as the younger man hadn’t even said anything about the whole situation, he had to assume…

“Please don’t deny it. Because if you deny it then it’s a rumor and I love sharing those,” Donut warned him. “If you confirm it, it’s a secret, and those I keep.”

To think Donut could ever be so straightforward. Alex sighed and nodded briefly at the comment from the other man. No reason not to own up if there was that sort of not-quite threat hanging over his head.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Donut said, reaching across the table to lay his hand on Alex’s. “Listen, I can fill you in on a lot of stuff, but I think you don’t want the details. To sum it up in the simplest way I can, those two are clearly really into each other. Like, maybe they haven’t said the words yet, but I figure the sentiment is there. Or will be. I’m so sorry. Your timing was…”

“Miserable,” Alex agreed, closing his eyes and just putting up with the contact, even though he didn’t want it.

“You know… I mean… it doesn’t have to be so cut and dried,” Donut spoke after a moment of silence.

That got Alex to open his eyes. “Just what do you mean by that? The man I’m interested in has his eyes on another man and they got together while I was out of town. Seems pretty plain to me.”

“I mean, there are other ways somebody can approach a situation. It may take two to tango, but there are plenty of ways to dance. I myself am…”

Donut’s words, and point, were lost as Connie’s hand settled on Alex’s shoulder. Alex knew it had to be her touch because it was light and was carefully placed where there was fabric, rather than assuming to touch elsewhere. So he looked up at her, and was met with a softly smiling face.

“Hey,” she greeted him. “Your sister and I are free now for a toast. I grabbed some cupcakes out of the back too, put candles in them. You should come make a wish.”

“Wish?” Donut asked, perking up. “Oh my god, is it a birthday today?”

Alex just nodded, confirming what both of them said as he pushed away from the table and stood. “Alright then. I suppose now that you’re in on the secret of our birthday, Connie, I can’t protest a mini-cake.”

“And if you did I’d be very upset,” Connie laughed at that, reaching down to take Alex’s hand when he was standing. “I asked Caboose to come over this morning to help me make them special. He’ll be very upset if you don’t enjoy it. Granted, they’re both frosted like jack o'lanterns, but it’s something, right?”

It was, and Alex was thankful for it. Alexa wasn’t big on cake, and so last year they’d just skipped on it entirely because their Halloween party card was so filled up that finding time to share a smaller party with friends hadn’t been possible. Besides, he did like a bit of a fuss put up over him on his birthday. If Alexa wasn’t going to do it or let him do it for her, then damn if he wasn’t going to let Connie cover it for him. With a smile he followed her when she pulled on his wrist, and she guided him over to the table nearest the pastry case where Alexa was waiting. Alex did his best to ignore the fact that it meant they were leaving him just a few feet away from where David was hanging out with his boyfriend and their friends. Why couldn’t they pick a better place? But when Connie directed him to sit down across from his sister, Alex just obeyed.

“She’s a forceful one,” Alex obeyed and Alexa just nodded in agreement.

“I like that about her,” she chuckled, shaking her head as her girlfriend went off to wherever she had secreted their treats. “No matter who is feeling down, Connie will find a way to make it better.”

“Good thing no one is feeling down,” Alex told her pointedly, and his sister, his twin, the Artemis to his Apollo costume, rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that,” Alexa rolled her eyes, and then she was saying nothing because people were singing all around them.

Alex put a smile on his lips and listened as first Connie sang, and then she was quickly joined by other voices. Alex closed his eyes and sang along under his breath. With his eyes closed he could almost pretend that this wasn’t something special. That there were always friends and companions who would be there to celebrate with him. And that the person across the table from him was David, not his twin. Wouldn’t that have been nice, coming home to a boyfriend who had missed him, sharing a private little dinner after an evening with their friends, and David bringing out a cake they would sing over. He’d look good, candle light in his eyes, and his smile would be warm and welcoming, like coming home itself.

As the song wound down to the find notes, Alex opened his eyes and smiled across at his sister. She gave him a smile in return and as it finally ended and someone, he didn’t know who, called out that they should blow out the candles. Alex closed his eyes briefly again, holding back the wish he really wanted to have. Quickly he blew out the candle, leaving the wish out of mind.

“Happy birthday, idiot,” Alexa smiled across the table at him.

“You too, jerk,” Alex laughed at her as he reached out to pluck the candle free from his cupcake. He started to peel the paper off when he heard the sound of something hitting the floor, as well as Alexa cursing under her breath.

“Hey, dropped my phone under the table, get that would you?” she asked.

Alex sighed and didn’t argue that it was her fault and thus she should handle it. He didn’t want the conflict right now. So he just pushed back from his seat, knelt on the floor to get down low, and started reaching around under the table to find it.

* * * * * *

It must be said that Shaun believed himself to be a rather composed person with the self-control of a saint. But as he chuckled with pleasure at the kiss David left on his cheek, he couldn’t help but look aside. And so his eyes fell upon the sight of David’s friend Alex, dressed up as one member of a divine trio, bent over under a table. Shaun couldn’t help but whistle in appreciation as the hem of the man’s toga slid up, revealing a beautiful stretch of paler, creamy white skin where the rest of him had a bit of a tan. They looked strong too, muscular legs looking wonderful next to the golden sheen of the fabric of his costume.

“What are you look…” David started to ask at his side, and when Shaun looked to his boyfriend out of the corner of his eyes, and he found a beautiful pinkening to his cheeks. That sort of blush made Shaun want to push his boyfriend down and kiss his cheeks until the blush had moved down his neck and left color flowing over his collarbone where he would lick and bite at it, loving the sounds it drove from his boyfriend.

“You know, it’s an interesting costume choice,” Shaun chuckled, tearing his eyes from the beautiful form before him. He had a boyfriend, who was small, cute, and covered with little freckles like specks of cinnamon that Shaun took no end of pleasure in licking and tasting. So he had no reason to look elsewhere.

“Only you would comment when someone was…” David started, and Shaun smiled and turned to cup his boyfriend’s face in his hands.

“I mean here I am, Captain Kirk, arrrrrh, and he’s Apollo. We’ve waged war before,” Shaun said simply. “Do you not remember it, Spock? When he plucked the ship from orbit and forced us to the surface?”

“Shaun, please, no,” Daniel groaned across the other side of the table, and Shaun grinned at his best friend. This was what Daniel got for not being his science officer, so he could instead be a green computer. Because that made sense. Not.

“He’s a Trekkie?” Nate asked in that deep rumble that seemed to come from somewhere south of his ankles. There was something almost like disapproval in his voice, but truth of the matter was that Shaun had a very, very hard time reading the tones the other man’s voice took. Especially considering how rarely Nate spoke around him in English.

“Since we were children,” Daniel sighed, shaking his head. “You saved me from that costume, David.”

“I think Nate saved you,” David countered, and Shaun just grinned at them both.

“Captain’s log: my crew seems to be planning a mutiny against me.”

“I will if you start Shatnering at me,” David warned him, and there was a hard edge to his voice that said he wasn’t even remotely kidding on that point.

“But why… would I ever… do that?” Shaun asked, making the pauses far past too long.

He was actually shocked to see David stand. Even if it hadn’t sounded like David was kidding, he still hadn’t expected David to actually go through with it. Yet there David was, walking away from him. Strolling off to the table where Connie and the twins sat. The look Daniel gave him across the table was one of reproval, and Shaun couldn’t even see Nate’s expression. Still, he was certain it wasn’t exactly cheerful and supportive. After all, he and Nate still hadn’t managed a really stable relationship, no matter what Shaun desired. Truth be told, he wanted to be closer to his friend’s first boyfriend, but there was something questionable at him getting involved with someone out of the blue who was now living in his apartment, but that was just Shaun’s opinion.

“Nate,” Daniel spoke, his voice soft and assuring as he reached out to touch his boyfriend’s arm. “Why don’t you go meet Alex. Your boss’s twin is no doubt important to him, and you should at least introduce yourself.”

It was a dismissal and Shaun was certain of that much. There was always an edge when Daniel did that, but it was always soft, making it sound more request than order. Nate clearly recognized it for what it was, so the large man moved out of the booth and moved after David. Which meant, soon enough, Shaun was left alone with his best friend, who was giving him an angry look. One Shaun was certain he didn’t deserve.

“I’ve got to assume you had a reason to do that,” Shaun sighed, frowning across at his best friend.

“Do I ever lack a reason for my actions?” Daniel asked simply. “I’m a bit more possessed of rational behavior than you seem to be. So I must ask, Shaun, what was it exactly that you were doing?”

Well, there was a question that Shaun wasn’t certain how to answer. Mostly because he wasn’t entirely sure what Daniel was asking about. So to buy himself some time to think he selected a few pieces of candy corn and popped them into his mouth. See, he was chewing, there was nothing to be done for it. Of course Daniel was quite experienced with all of Shaun’s defenses, and this one earned him a roll of Daniel’s eyes. Still, Shaun’s ploy seemed to work well enough because Daniel sighed and pushed his own small plate of treats aside to fold his hands together before him on the table.

“Alright then,” Daniel said at last, “as you don’t seem to understand the source of my disappointment, I shall have to be blunt. All of us noticed you checking Alex out. It is inappropriate of you to do so, specially in front of your boyfriend. The one you worked hard to win over despite your reputation for seeking physical pleasure and not a lasting relationship.”

Oh. That. Shaun sighed and stared down at his candy. Slowly he nudged the little triangles of the candy corn into a little smiling face, and then put the pumpkin ones in place for the eyes. A halloween orange Hersey’s kiss formed the nose of his little creation and he arranged small pieces of laffy taffy into bits of colorful hair. This definitely wasn’t a conversation he wanted to be having, clearly.

“”That,” Shaun sighed. “I… well, I mean, it’s harmless, right? It’s not like I intend anything by it. It’s harmless, because the guy holds no interest to me. None at all.”

Except those lovely strong legs, and the shapely rear and the way the gold cloth looked against his skin. It was all very tempting. Shaun thought maybe if he closed his eyes he could see what it looked like on David, but another part of him said that if he tried, what he’d find would be Alex behind his eyelids, not David. But no, he was set on the man he loved, or very near to it. David was important to him. And he knew he was important to David. There was something about the younger man that made him feel like he was healing. Maybe not physically, but definitely emotionally. Which was the better part of what mattered to him, truth be told.

“And I’m the heir to a wealthy family,” Daniel dismissed his comments simply. Shaun winced at that.

“I’m not…”

“I know,” Daniel waved his protest aside with a sigh. “But I’m worried anyway. This is one of your first serious relationships, and I don’t want you ruining it for yourself or David because you used to have a wandering eye.”

“It wasn’t always like this,” Shaun mumbled under his breath.

“I know,” Daniel repeated. “Charlotte… Well, things are different now, from how they were when she was around, and how they were after. You’re in a relationship, and that requires a maturity and restraint that you didn’t possess before.”

“Wow, I feel like you have so much confidence in me,” Shaun sighed, looking up at his best friend. “I know how to restrain myself. And it’s David I want. More than anything. I want him.”

He loved David. Which was wonderful. But that body…

No, Shaun shook his head. “I’m certain, D, I know I can handle this. A moment of lust for another guy doesn’t mean, for the briefest moment, that I’m any less in love with David.”

Daniel’s eyes went wide at that declaration, and rather than let himself hear what his friend had to say about it, Shaun just continued on, because it was the right thing to do. To get it all off his chest.

“I love him,” Shaun repeated firmly. “And nothing is going to get in the way of that, not even a momentary glance at another guy. I’m not going to act on it, because I love him, so there are no problems really. So... I’m cool.”

Yeah, they were cool, or so Shaun felt. So he smiled and looked over toward his boyfriend, where he’d sat down with his friend and neighbors and he was laughing. There was amusement, pleasure, pride in his eyes and really, Shaun couldn’t help but be happy at that. In almost a month and a half David had clearly become far more comfortable with his life here. Shaun was a part of that. He had a hand in that happiness the man was showing. The joy, the pleasure, his place among these people was partially because of Shaun, and that warmed him inside in a way he hadn’t known for a while.

"And here I thought for a while you weren't looking for happiness anymore," Daniel mused quietly as he pulled his plate close once more and picked up a cookie for himself. "I thought you'd given up after her."

"Me too," Shaun admitted with a sad frown. "But what happens happens. And what happened here is more than I ever thought possible."

Daniel nodded in agreement. "Maybe we should go over there and join their conversation."

That much Shaun knew not to do, so he shook his head. "He hasn't seen his friend in a month. I'm not going to interrupt that. So let's just have our treats and wait to either be called over or have him come back."

Again he got a nod in response and Shaun sighed in relief at that.

Though, truth be told, he was pretty certain his mind was going to be pretty distracted, just for a little bit. Because that body, like it or not, was a beautiful thing. And someone didn't shake off a desire for beautiful things so easily as saying they were done and expecting it to be true. Then again, he was going to take David home with him tonight and he was certain that his energetic lover was going to more than simply banish thoughts of this Alex from his mind.

But his eyes kept going back over to that table, to the beautiful man who was his boyfriend, and the gorgeous god who was laughing with him, their smiles looking absolutely enchanting together. If only he could look nearly so good with his boyfriend as Alex was. Still… David was his, and Shaun was certain he’d never have to worry about that. Thank god for the small things. Like knowing someone cared about you. No. 

No, Shaun realized as David looked up and their eyes met across the room. It was more than simple caring. 

Love. He was in love. And maybe they both were.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for sticking with the story for so long guys. I wanted to note that at the moment I am exhausted and burnt out with Relocation and so will be taking a bit of a break on it for a while. I have discovered that forcing myself to put out massive word counts on this when this drained on the story is far from good for it or myself. Thus I'll be taking a break on Relocation, at least until January, due to sheer need. That being said I wanted to make sure that I got the Halloween related stuff finished for the holiday, so you do get this. Hope it satisfies.


	23. Part Sixteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a long time coming, you know? But I've finally found the energy and motivation to get back to this. And so we pick back up on the adventures of our trio in October of 2014. It will be November for them soon. That's where the interesting shit starts to happen again. Glad to see you all again and I hope this chapter helps get us back in the swing of things. Now excuse me while I go start on the next. 
> 
> If you want, you can donate to Churby here: [Donate](http://ko-fi.com/A3364NF)

Routine. Strange how much he had come to value that. Sure his life could be highly unstable schedule wise, just look at his recent trip, but some things remained. Traditions that were routine, expected, mundane. Halloween was one of those things. Costumes and candy and cooking a birthday dinner with his sister and finishing with a cake topped with mini snickers. Just the way life went. Should go. Except life wasn't big on ‘should’ lately, was it?

Bars were a special sort of clusterfuck on Halloween, or so Alex was beginning to conclude as he was jostled by the third shirtless cowboy costumed man who wasn't nearly as attractive as the guy wanted to think. With a sigh he looked to his drink. This was what came from broken routine. Not that he could blame his sister at all. It was her birthday too and Connie had asked to join them for dinner. Because she hadn't wanted to ruin the routine. Alex had seen through it of course and after the cafe party had parted from the ladies. And so it was that at only six at night he was in a bar filled with costumes and people close enough to tipsy that he was growing concerned with the shortness of his hem. 

“Stop looking so pathetically glum,” Niner grumbled from behind the counter as she pushed the small plate with a cupcake closer to him. “I know Alexa isn't as good at baking as you, but she told me to make sure every bite of cupcake made it into your mouth.”

Alex resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He loved his sister enough to know that she didn't make the cupcake and to forgive her for it. The foresight to see it into Niner’s hands for when he showed up was to be applauded, and the touch of actually getting one custom made at a bakery so the snickers could be on top was to be saluted. But that didn't mean she was anymore here than she should have been. Perhaps he was being too hard on her, but After the last few days, could he be blamed? Yes, probably quite easily. He had to be rational about that part. Not that he wanted to be, but it was only right. 

"Geez, only you could be glum for a confirmation that a guy you like is gay,” Niner grumbled before walking away down the bar. "Not like Shaun stays relationships." 

For a second he wanted to ask how she knew that. Only for a second. If Shaun lived nearby, like Alex suspected, then this would be one of the closest bars in town to him. Prime location to fish for attention. Thus Niner would have had chances to see the man at work, trying to pick up people. Perhaps even her. The very idea brought a mean little smirk to his lips. He knew it was mean because he had seen the same look on his twin’s face. It was a pleasure to be had and just how hard Niner would have shut the man down. As much as he didn't want to indulge his mean side, it was cathartic to imagine the way she would…

"Here," the word, accompanied by the clinking of a full, chilled bottle of beer on the counter next to his unfinished one, shocked Alex. Both came seemingly from left field and he stared for a full moment before looking up at the woman.

"Isn't it your job to see me only reasonably wasted? Not that I'm complaining. You're just jumping the gun a little," Alex found himself protesting. Still, he pulled the beer bottle closer, not wanting her to snatch the open container back in a fit of pique. 

"True enough Zeus, or whoever you're supposed to be. But this one isn't on either of us. You either have a sympathizer morning min but this one isn't on either of us. You either have a sympathizer or an admirer. Either way, good fucking luck.”

With that she pointed a man further down the bar and walked off to deal with another customer. It seemed she was finally out of patience for him. Which was okay considering the new person occupying his attention. Well, new was a relative term. This was neither a young man nor stranger, not either by a longshot. Curiosity, and drink and enhanced imagination caught, Alex collected his beers and moved to sit on the stool next to his benefactor.

"Didn't see you at the party earlier Sarge," he greeted the man more carefully then he honestly felt. "That desperate to avoid Grif?”

"Naw, ain't like that. Just ain't big on them damn get-togethers the lady boss likes throwin. Specially holidays. She don't even set anything on fire for it.”

Alex let himself smirk at that, please to see an answering one from the other man. Of course he would want more fire. There was just something about the man that meant he didn't fit in with the other employees there. No, as Alexa had put it one time, sword with her kind of man. Given her recent selection of male to associate with in this Nathaniel, Alex thought he was beginning to see a pattern. Men that, with the right motivation, could set out to break almost as much as her. Sarge had old, well, Sergeant written all over him. Mix that with Alexa’s attitude and Nate's apparent marine training and you'd have an explosive trio.

Especially if you questioned Sarge’s ability as a manager, as Alexa once had. 

Unlike pretty much everyone else in the bar, Sarge was not visibly dressed for the day. Granted the old army fatigue jacket and pants might make one assume that the man with the red bandanna around his brow was dressing up as a soldier on leave, but Alex knew better. More than once he'd seen the man arrive at a variety of café events in that very coat. It's seem just right on him as workout clothes did on Alexa. Natural to him, like the plumage of a bird. A bird that it covered itself in a variety of patches at least.The man had them to show off everything from a local mechanic shop to service back in his youth. The effect was an interesting one, and Alex yearned for his camera. The interplay of color and styles, wear and pristine condition, advertisement and honor, it was beautiful in its own way.

"Got to admit, you make one mean bratwurst,” Alex mild, raising his new beer to the older man at his side. "Mind if I ask why the beer?”

That you're a shrug from the man. "Look like you needed it, not much more than that.”

A more than sufficient answer in his mood. Niner had agreed too, given she hadn't denied him to drink. Of course she knew what was going on. Sarge didn't.

“‘Sides, no man should have to buy their own drinks on their birthday. No," Sarge stop the question with the raised hand before Alex could ask it, "it ain't hard to tell with how you and your beast-woman sister are in the days leading up to Halloween. Plus, Connie’s got it on her calendar in the back and all. Whole girlfriend thing.”

They are they got to the root of it. Things always took a while to get to the heart of with Sarge. The man must have read too many mystery novels in his life for how complexly he built things up. In the time they had known each other, though only in passing, Sergeant only ever been straightforward about his dislike of the Blue shift. Ask him the color of the ocean or why he disliked the blues, though… That took longer.

"The frankly why that David kid is off no doubt boning Shaun rather than here greasing your wheels, that one I don't know.”

Let it not be said that Sarge lack a sense of dramatic timing. With a bottle to his lips Sarge spoke, what else could happen with what Sarge said? Luckily for Alex, Niner wasn't standing on the other side of the bar, so the spray of beer went only over the counter and bottles behind it. Down the bar he could hear Niner cursing his name, and he frantically snatched at napkins to dry off the counter before even his face. And Sarge? The damn asshole at his side was laughing like he had never seen a funnier sight. Somehow Alex doubted that given where the older man worked, not to mention who he worked with.

"Glad you're so amused," Alex grumbled as he work to clean his mess.

"Don't get your toga in a twist, Blondie. Didn't mean for it to happen. I'm just confused by the attention Grumpsmagurt draws.”

"Who?" Alex answered, and playing Cory was stupid. He knew it but the words were already out there.

"Into much of a little dance around Washington since he got here," Sarge continued, ignoring Alex’s futile ploy. "Still, gotta sting to lose that battle to someone like Shaun and all that. Pull the rug right out from under your feet he did. So I feel bad. So the drinks are on me tonight, okay?”

A kindness from Sarge? Alex was love staring for a long moment, watching is the older man took a swig of his beer. How do you really look that pathetic at the bar? He must have. Part of him wanted to go home and that realization. The rest of him, done cleaning the counter, put aside damp napkins and pulled his thankfully untouched cupcake and the plastic knife toward him. The process of cutting through the Snickers bar was a difficult one, but once he was through to the soft give of the cupcake itself the whole process went a lot faster. His last remaining napkin became a makeshift plate for half of his dessert so he could push it to Sarge.

"What's this then?”

"It's wrong to hog the whole cake on your birthday. And you shouldn't drink on an empty stomach either. Consider this two birds with one stone. Eat up or birthday boy is going to be too offended to have any more drinks. What do you say to that?”

Sarge Graceton with the rare smile as he picked up his half of the cupcake. "Bon appétit.”

* * * * * *

Shaun’s apartment was going to be quite the familiar place these days. Sure there was the obvious amount of time he spent in the other man's arms, not to mention his bed, but mainly the place had grown to be comfortable for him. There was nothing here to actively remind him of Ethan, no memories of calls or harassment, no books that belonged to him, no furniture they prompted memories. The only shadows in Shaun’s home with the ones David brought with him, and the one that caught his boyfriend's attention whenever he looked in the mirror. This apartment, with his friend Daniel upstairs and the already growing protective form of Nathaniel with him, was a safe haven. Shaun’s side was a place of comfort, his couch a place to relax, his kitchen somewhere with laughter and counterpoint to how serious David could be in his own. 

The only specters tonight we're the ones in David's heart and mind, and his fear. All of it wrapped in a Spock costume and Shaun’s warm arms. Arms that had hands that were ghosting up his arms, no doubt eager to work David's costume off and pull him into the shower as those talented lips working at his ear insisted they were only going to clean the makeup off. Another night he would love the idea, laugh and play along and be the one to break first and put his lover to the shower and do wonderful things with him. This wasn't another night and there was a lot to be said for that.

Those lips ghosted away from his year, the arms around him to send and he found himself only growing stiffer. He had done something wrong, given too much away to his boyfriend. 

"You know, just because Spock is a gorgeous wall who keeps his emotions locked up most of the time doesn't mean that's what I'm looking for and lover. Kirk get up or not," Shaun whispered, Boyce soft and soothing in the way somehow always managed. 

"Sorry," David let himself sigh. "I'm just, in my head I guess.”

"As gorgeous as your head is, I'd rather you be out here with me," Shaun chuckled, and his fingers moved it last to work through David's hair. The touch did more to sooth David and he cared to admit, and it almost drove the truth from his lips. No, though, he couldn't allow that, never would. Some things couldn't be said, even with how open he had been in the past.

"I'm fine," David struggle to assure him, but the words came out a lie even to his own ears. Really, he wasn't surprised when does arm shifted around him to instead hold him close, hold him tight to Shaun for comfort.

"Relationships have talking," Shaun noted. "Remember? Communication? Talk to me. I promise nothing bad will come of it. We'll just have a nice little talk, I'll reheat some of that stew for you, and everything will be okay.”

No, it wouldn't, because as soon as he opened his mouth everything would be wrong. Ruined. All because he was no better than Ethan. Should he have expected anything else, really? All those years, of course some of that taint would rub off on him. He wouldn't touch Shaun with that though. The man was too good. 

"Tell me," Shaun repeated, his voice soft and familiar. No plea edged his voice, just a calm acceptance.

"I can't sound like Ethan," David protested, the words of tiny whisper. "I won't just…”

"You're a good man who would never…" Shaun didn't finish the sentence, just trailed off and let his fingers follow the hidden line of scar tissue David's ex-boyfriend had left in his wake. "You wouldn't. You're a good man.”

"Then why am I so jealous?" David whimpered. With the first of it out he curled himself further into his boyfriend, squeezing his eyes closed. "You weren't even doing anything wrong. Just looking.”

"Fuck," Shaun cursed, his arms tighter around David in that instant. "This is about Alex. I'm sorry, love. I promise it won't happen again. You're my man, my love, and I'm sorry. So sorry.”

Shaun was apologizing to him? Calling him his love? No, that wasn't how this was supposed to go. It was David that had done something wrong, being upset like this. Ethan was always wrong about people drawing David's attention, had hurt him for it, and David… Had been right? Somehow that hurt more deeply than he could ever explain. Hurt more than hearing the L word could even begin to soothe him. Already Shaun was turning away from him. For not being enough? Worst was that he was doing it over a guy David himself had more than merely appreciated. 

"I… I should be the sorry one," David insisted, pushing the dark thoughts aside.

"Jealousy is fine sometimes," Shaun noted, "if you don't let it control you that is. Are you going to let it control you?”

"Ethan always did.”

The words he gave were whisper, a dirty secret only alluded to finally drawn forth. Somethings are better unsaid. This was one.

"You aren't him," Shaun's voice answered immediately. Fingers curled around his chin and twisted his head to the side. Like this their eyes could meet. Like this he could see the softest there. "You will never be that man. You are my kind, sweet David, who was understandably jealous when I was scoping the ass of a Greek god. Which won't be happening again. You have my word. I swear.”

Was it wrong to be comforted by that? Wrong to look upon Shaun with hope that he really could be okay? That everything would be alright?

"Come on," Shaun said is he finally shifted David out of his arms. "We should get cleaned up, and get you fed.”

When Shaun stood it was to offer a comforting hand. A gesture David took without hesitation. The fingers were always so deft, so it was a shock to find how tightly they could grip Shaun hold him to his feet.

"I'm not feeling… Frisky as it were. I know I promised you a show in these outfits, but…" David said softly and found the man smiling gently at him.

“Don't worry," Shaun said with that smile that made David warm inside. "I have other plans for tonight.”

Other plans, David discovered as soon as they cleaned up after dinner, we're no less amazing for being unexpected. With soft hands and on silent feet Shaun guided him toward the bedroom. The lights were dimmed through the whole apartment, and Shaun didn't offer a single word as they moved. Together the pair walked, David focusing on the sensations. On the roughness of the carpet beneath his feet. On the lingering smell of the beef barley stew, prepared for them days ago by Daniel. On the soft, fuzzy outlines of everything around them, the sounds in the air just as muffled as their edges.

Darkness seem to flow after them, putting everything apart from them as Shaun sat him down on the edge of the bed. Sure fingers sought not for his shirt but slid down the line of his legs. The touch was firm enough to not tickle, soft enough not to arouse in the possessiveness. Strange how he could find that so arousing from Shaun and repulsive in others. Stranger still to have those hands moved to his socked feet. Then warm fingers were pressing into that exact spot in the arch of his foot that held all the tension after a long day on his feet.

"What are you…?" David groaned in pleasure at the touch, only to be cut off by nimble fingers rubbing at his ankles.

"Hush," Shaun returned immediately, voice soft. "Let me work.”

Work he did. David found himself left silent as those hands massaged up his thighs. Each press of fingers sought out points in his muscles, leaving David moaning once again. This was so different, so amazing. His eyes closed as he lowered himself to lie down. Ever upward those fingers quested, warm and skillful in ways they had never shown David before. His body arched up as Shaun's fingers found his hips and slowly his pants were tugged down. Yet still those fingers quested upward, beyond where David found he suddenly wanted them. Despite the way the touch made him relax, David forced his eyes open. Those fingers sought over the blue of his costume shirt, still on, and his eyes followed the length of the yellow sleeves to the gold pips, the tan column of his boyfriend’s neck, and into those beautiful eyes. 

Adoring eyes. 

Loving eyes. The word from earlier came back and the warm pleasure of his body burst into flames. Shaun must've known that, with the absolutely hungry look in his eyes. Yet the way the man controlled himself… It was amazing. How could a man say that word and stay so composed?

"I love you too.”

David's words for whisper pulled from the too full heart. Words he never thought he could utter again. An emotion that should've died that day in the hospital, in the apartment, in all those years he let himself be hurt. They stopped Shaun for only half a moment. Then the smile returned, as gold as his shirt, his skin, his heart. As gold and bright and radiant as the dawn of a new day.

Still those hands massaged, never letting up for a second. And David, with a sigh that was as much contentment as pleasure, let himself lie back with his eyes closed and just be there. Pampered by his newest and truest love.

"Strange to think I would hear those words from you, especially from you," Shaun admitted, his voice a bit strained. But a good kind of straight, like the sweet emotional kind. Even as those fingers worked, Shaun's face rose further into David’s view. "Sorry, dear, got to get that shirt off you.”

there was a giddiness building in David's got that he could only call a playful sort of happiness. It demanded to be let out, but nothing wanted to interrupt those fingers rising to the shoulders. So he spoke, because it was what was left to him.

"Of course… Captain.”

That brought a new curved to Shaun's smile. "Oh? Feeling spirited today, my number one? I think I can find a way out of your mischievous mood. You know, in the name of helping you keep your cool.

David barely had time to laugh before he found those soothing hands suddenly on his hips and firmly so. He had an idea of what was wanted of him, so he rolled onto his stomach. Those fingers found his shoulders once more, this time from the back, and at once they found knots to work out. How could shown be so good at this? No, better not to ask. Instead he just wanted to enjoy.

"Damn this is a bad one," Shaun sighed, and with that there was a new weight not only on the bed, but straddling David's back. Which, of course, made the pressure on those tight muscles all the more amazing.

Still, he couldn't help with smart over his boyfriend's antics.

"This was all so much more romantic when you weren't talking," David tease softly.

The words and giddiness seemed less important as those hand slipped below his shirt to work at tired muscles. They were kind enough not to linger overlong upon scars, and soon those magic digits found the rhythm that made him melt once more. Again the pleasurable silence overtook them, letting David just rest there, feeling. Had he ever felt so good before? Had a night ever been this perfect? Never with Ethan, not like this. Had he ever been so pampered? So loved without anything being asked of him in return but his own pleasure?

No. He wouldn't let himself be taken away from this perfection. Not from the man he loved, who he loved to be with. The warmth of the massage itself warred with the warmth in his chest, neither quite winning until long after his clothes were shed and a warm, bare body held his own closely. Lying like this, and Shaun's arms, assured him that it was the warmth in his heart that was the greater one, stoked within him even surrounded by those arms.

"Feels weird, going to sleep before midnight on Halloween," David murmured as he rested in those arms.

"No one said you have to sleep," Shaun mumbles and response. "I mean tomorrow is Saturday. We don't have to go anywhere in the morning if we don't want to. We can have a lazy morning together.”

"I have to work," David groaned in protest.

"Call off sick," Shaun suggested, nuzzling at his ear. 

"No thanks. You've already healed me up in ways you can't understand.”

"Maybe I can," Shaun countered. "I'll sure as hell try.”

* * * * * *

Laughter, Alex mused, was a strange thing. Mostly it was because there were so many varieties of it. Laughter of joy, laughter of hysteria, laughter over terrible jokes and for being tickled, and to underlined awkward situations. Then there were all the different ways a voice could create laughter. Deep rumbles and high barks. Shrill cackles and bubbly giggles. Sweet things half swallowed and bitter edges almost choked out.

"It's like chocolate," he observed out loud to himself as he unwrapped mini Mr. Goodbar.

"What's like chocolate?”

Alex tilted his head back on the arm of the couch, and almost painful contortion made worthwhile because he didn't want to move much. The position gave him a rather unique angle on Sarge that made the stubble on his jaw glint in the lights of the apartment. It was nice, the way it moved as Sarge frowned at him. Alex just smiled as Sarge put down the still heaping bowl of candy on the seat of the coat chair and resumed his own perch on the arm of it. As Alex was a good host he had offered to sit up and give Sarge some space on the couch, which the older man had denied. So Alex just stretched out instead, content with the space.

‘Easier to get up and fetch more beers and give the kitties chocolate for you this way,’ Sarge had said an hour ago when he had stretched Alex out on the couch and proceeded to gather beers, candy, and chocolates just for Alex.

"Chocolate," Alex answered playfully before the Goodbar was popped into his mouth. It was really terrible that he could only find the things at Halloween and Christmas.

"It's right there in the name," Sarge observed blandly as he reached for his beer. They were down to some of Alexa’s favorites, pilfered by Alex of course. He could apologize later.

"Have I thanked you yet?" Alex asked as he reached for his own drink. It was only his second since they got here, and it was strangely wonderful with the taste of chocolate already on his lips.

"For handing out candy? It's nothing. A pleasure really. No one ever comes by my place," Sarge pointed out. His voice didn't even slur. How was that fair at all? Alex was certain the other man had managed to down way more than he had himself.

"You live above your nephew’s mechanic shop," Alex laughed. He thought it was a sweet laugh so he decided it was milk chocolate over marshmallow.

"A detail you didn't know until after so still no thank yous.”

"No, genius, for getting me home safely," Alex said with a sigh and a roll of his eyes.

"Well, woulda been easier for you to get home if I had stopped buying drinks.”

Another laugh wanted to bubble up from Alex at that. Warm and bubbly… Hot chocolate? Good enough. He let himself smile at that decision. Hot chocolate couldn't be a Sarge thing, but it felt right. A good decision. Just like his next swig of beer. That was a great decision.

"In fact, was pretty sure your bartender friend, the lady with the insane hair, would have killed me if another round got bought.”

Good thing they had booze here. Alex smiled at that and sat up a bit more. He could remember the way they had stumbled into his apartment. Their voices raised and bouncing through the halls. There had been less kids then, but whenever he saw some, Alex had insisted that they stay silent and steady until the children passed them. That hadn't been easy to say the least with how off-balance they had both been. Alex was still there, glad for the couch, his head busy spinning still. Not so much as in the past, but still there nonetheless.

"Niner can be like that," Alex smiled. "More intimidating than she really is. Seems that is. She's more intimidating than she is. Not more dangerous, but more intimidating. Picked up pointers from my sister. They dated in college." It all came out as a mess but Alex thought Sarge got the point.

"Yeah, they seem the type," Sarge agreed immediately. "Tough ladies attract tough ladies sometimes. Connie is pretty tough too.”

"Not tough. Secretly soft," Alex chuckled lightly. "Call me is like a… Kitten. Sweet and soft and when you make her mad…”

“Out come the claws,” Sarge finished for him with his own, deeper laugh. "Seems to describe a lot of ladies I know.”

Quick knocking layered with giggles coming from the door through Sarge to his feet. Quickly he grabbed the bowl of candy and moved to the door to answer it. Alex watched intently, impressed by how sure the other man's steps were, how straight his back, how his arm muscles flexed in the T-shirt he wore now that the coat was discarded. It was the thought of a moment but left Alex stunned and frowning to himself. How desperate did he need to be to appreciate Sarge like that?

Quite.

"There we go," Sarge announced as he shut the door and turned to regard Alex. "Yanno… You never did tell me what gets everyone worked up about the grumpus.”

No, he hadn't, and for good reason. How did one explain David and the way the man made him feel? Part of it was that part of him that wanted to protect people. It was an asshole-ish reason to want to be by someone. But there was more than that to it. He wasn't motivated by that alone. There was the softness of his smile, and the warmth in how David treated people around him when he was in a good mood. There was the smile on his face when he cooked and the laughter in his voice when they drink together. There was the trust when Alex had bleached his friend’s hair…

"Doesn't have to make sense?" Alex asked after a long time of thinking.

"Naw, rarely does," Sarge agreed as he sat again. "Can’t say it’s ever sensical. See a lot of people come into the cafe, see lots of relationships come and go. Only thing I’ve learned is that shit happens. Simple as that.”

Nothing could ever be that simple, but Alex let it go. Summing David up like that felt unfair. Not that Alex would say that.

“So… getting late,” Sarge observed, his attention on the clock by the television. “Should be getting out of here.”

“You’re not good to drive,” Alex countered. ‘You can spend the night on this couch.”

“Naw, can get a cab,” Sarge insisted, pushing back up to his feet and grabbing his coat. “Happy birthday, Blondie.”

He was leaving already? Alex struggled to his own feet, stumbling after Sarge to the door.

“Thanks,” he spoke when they reached the door. “Sort of salvaged my night if you can believe it.”

“Given your only company of note was that busy bartender with all the cuddly potential of an angry porcupine. Who knew?”

Alex let out a bark of laughter at that, and it put him off balance. Off balance enough to stumble, and of course Sarge was there, holding him up. The man was more than capable of it, even drunk, and Alex was quite amused by that. Sarge, just being there, was supporting him so easily that it was enough to make him smile. The question was why he was so amused? No doubt the answer came down to the alcohol in his gut, and the sheer amounts of it. “Oh man, I really need to lay down, you know?”

“I could help with that,” Sarge offered immediately.

“Someone has to lock the door,” Alex countered. “Go on, get out of here.”

Was it something he did, something he had said during the night? Alex’s mind could provide no answers to the sudden hand around his neck pulling him of balance. Nothing to explain the warm press of chapped lips or how it left his mind reeling. That hand at his neck almost literally made him fall over. The lips made his head spin and his brain couldn’t figure out how to focus on anything but those lips or his neck and no matter how much he wanted to move away from them to find answers he kept spinning back to them just like his whole body was spinning from the drink. Then, when Sarge pulled away at last, Alex found himself almost stumbling. The only thing that kept him standing was Sarge, once again, this time with a hand pressed firmly against his chest.

“What… just happened?” Alex whispered nervously.

“You needed it,” Sarge answered just as simply, turning for the door.

“Wait. What?”

No, he couldn’t just do something like that and then walk away. Not without answers. Not without a lot of answers. That was the way the world worked, right? When someone kissed you without warning they were obliged to give you some sort of answer, even if it was shyly running away. Which Sarge wasn’t doing, right? But he was going for the door. Was that the answer that Alex so desperately needed right now?

“Wait,” Alex repeated, grabbing Sarge’s arm. “What just happened?”

“It’s called a kiss, Blondie,” Sarge chuckled. Rough and deep. Chocolate covered pretzels sprinkled with extra salt. One of Alex’s favorite treats that one. “You needed it more than anything.”

“I… did?”

Sarge nodded. “Consider all that happened. Thing is, kid, you’re a good man, A good man who got a bit of a bad break with everything that happened while you were gone or whatever. You deserve a good break. A better break than you’ve had lately. Sure, I know I can’t be the one to give you that. But I can respect you and what you need. You need something to go your way, and I hope it does. So, like I said, looked like you needed it, especially right now. Being alone and all of that on your birthday.”

No kidding. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Alone wasn’t… It just wasn’t something Alex did well, by any stretch of the imagination. And Sarge had given him company. For the life of him Alex didn’t understand why other than the sort of excuse that Sarge had thrown out there, almost like he was trying to see if it would stick. But he was thankful for the attention anyway. Deeply so. Not that he quite knew how to deal with it.

“Gotta go,” Sarge informed him, and then he was through the door, leaving Alex behind with only a closed door and a head full of unexplainable thoughts. Unreasonable thoughts. Thoughts he didn’t think he was sober enough to deal with.

And underneath it all, the silence of the apartment almost haunted him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to say that I've disabled anon commenting on this story from now on due to reasons. But, the upside of that is that this would be the perfect time to sign up for an Ao3 account! They're great things that let you track authors and stories you enjoy more easily, know when comments have been responded to, and you can even make fic rec lists to share with your friends. Why don't you consider that today?


	24. Part Seventeen

“Hey, Connie, I'm heading out for the day,” David announced as Sarge came out of the locker room, fully dressed to take over David's duties. It was a relief to see his evening replacement show his face on time. Sarge hadn't bothered to show for the Halloween festivities two days before and he had been late for work yesterday afternoon. Tonight Shaun was busy helping Daniel and Nate move furniture in Daniel's apartment, which meant David was going to get a relaxing evening with a new book and perhaps even cook up something pleasant for himself that Shaun didn't enjoy. 

“Have fun, David,” she called back from a table in the corner as David moved into the locker room for a change. The place was surprisingly slow for a Sunday afternoon, which was a relief for his desire to just get out of the place and relax. Still, just to avoid the chance that he would get asked for something on the way out by a customer, David stripped down to the tank top her wore under his uniform shirt and just tugged his loose knit hoodie on over it. All of that done he headed back in the cafe proper only to see a very familiar form entering the cafe. 

Just seeing the tall, blond form of Alex striding confidently in through the door made David freeze. There was heat rising into his cheeks, and for the life of him, David didn't know what from. Was it the memory of how scandalously gorgeous Alex had been in his Halloween costume, evoking the Greek god David had mentally compared the man to when they first met? Or was his embarrassment over the memory of how Shaun had handled him at the end of the night, complete with an utterance of unexpected but needed words? How could he know? Did it even matter? 

“Hey,” Alex greeted, and David put on a smile. He had asked Nate last night about how to handle all that was going on and the other man had just shrugged and suggested going with his guy. At the moment his gut said to give that smiling face a chance. They were friends after all. 

“Hi,” David returned, his smile a touch more forced than Alex's seemed to be. “You're in early for you.”

“My body is still trying to adjust to the timezone. Normally it's not so bad but... well, what are you going to do beyond caffeinate?” 

“Sleep?” David suggested with a laugh.

“Easily said,” Alex chuckled right back before gesturing toward the nearest table. Something in David said no, but his body moved anyway toward the booth, sitting across from the handsome man. “Far more difficult than I do. Anyway, I was looking for you, if you cared.”

“Of course I care,” David answered. Was there something about his body language that said he was distant? To counter that he sat forward a bit more, making sure he smiled. “What can I do for you, neighbor?” 

“We're doing a welcome back dinner at my apartment tonight. Alexa, Connie and myself. They both felt like shit for ditching you last time and made sure I invited you this time,” Alex noted. “They both swear to show up this time if you do.”

“Strange that Connie didn't tell me earlier,” David mused with a frown. 

“I think the ladies intended to just short of kidnap you for dinner,” Alex shrugged and the less than amused look on his face told David all he needed to know about the man's opinions on that approach. “I, on the other hand, want to invite you. Mostly because Connie is working late and I would like my friend the talented cook to help me make the dinner. And maybe I wanted to thank you for cooking for me as well by cooking some for you.” 

“They... are making you cook your own welcome back dinner?” David asked, aghast at the very idea of it. The point of a celebration like that was that it was done for you. 

“It's also my belated birthday dinner,” Alex smiled, like that made it any better. “One good way to ensure a great Halloween party when you're growing up is to be born on the holiday itself.”

David was left gaping at the man. Welcome back dinner and birthday party? And the man had to cook it all on his own? This could not be tolerated, not even remotely. As he straightened in the seat he could tell Alex had read his answers, without words. Still, David smiled, not caring too much if it was weird to be invited to a tiny little, private birthday party where everyone was either related or dating each other. Connie was practically a sister anyway.

“So, what are we cooking?” he asked, pulling out his phone. A quick text to Shaun made certain he would not be missed or harassed tonight. This was far more important. 

And oh how beautiful the smile Alex graced him with was. Nope, he was not going to deal with that. Instead his attention turned toward his phone again; pulling up a number of recipes he kept on his phone for the sake of quick ingredient purchases. 

“Let's see what I can add to your meal,” David smiled as he flipped through the options. “What are you planning on?” 

“I'm intending on a dry-rubbed London Broil,” Alex provided. “Are you looking for something in particular?” 

“Well, it will help to have good side dishes, right? I mean, I can't make you a cake, but I can wow your taste-buds in other ways. Let's see... have you ever had spiced ginger asparagus? Goes great with beef. And I can make a pilaf for the side, or rolls with herb and garlic butter.”

“Sounds lovely,” Alex smiled and when David looked up he felt warm all over again. This was the worst agreement ever for his heart, and Alex's excitement, so plain on his face, was too contagious for him to care for more than a second. 

“We'll have to go shopping,” David announced, attaching all the ingredients he would need for his asparagus to a shopping app. “We've also got to talk about what bread is reasonable in our time frame. I have some ideas and tons of ingredients in my apartment to work with. There's an issue of oven space, but we do have two to work with now. Very convenient that you asked me. We'll have to look at cook temperatures too, and...”

A hand raised by Alex paused him in the middle of his planning. There was clearly a laugh struggling to escape with how his other hand was pressed in a fist to his lips. How dare he laugh? How dare he hold back on it? David almost wanted to reach across and prod the man in the ribs to force the laugh out. It was childish enough in his life to be that childish these days. Being relaxed enough for that was so different from his old life. That made this... refreshing. 

“We can go shopping very soon,” Alex assured him. “We'll hit the apartment first to drop off one of our cars. But there is something else I need to do first, okay? Can you wait for me?”

“Sure,” David smiled right back. “If I get bored I'll drive back to the complex, change, and wait for you to pick me up. Sound good?”

“Actually, it almost sounds better to have you go and meet me there when you put it like that,” Alex mused, his fingers stroking his chin. “Who knows how long this will take. Be patient with me?”

“Always,” David agreed, and the pensive look it got him made him wonder just how Alex took the comment. How could he not? After all, the last time they had been alone together, cooking... something had happened, or almost had, right? He'd been too patient with the man then. Had it been a mistake, to not act then? No, he had needed time, which he hadn't received, and now here he was. Happy with Shaun. SO there was no need to read into anything, right? Right. 

“See you soon, but don't take too long,” David decided as he pushed to his feet. Time to renew the space between them, maybe send Shaun another, sweet text to comfort himself in that relationship, and of course Nate to tell him to make certain his boyfriend behaved tonight while David wasn't there. Alex nodded his goodbye as David moved away. Of course he paused at the door, a realization hitting him along the way. “Oh, I am not running up those stairs back at the apartment, so I might take longer to get changed, okay?” 

“Got it,” Alex agreed, his smile a brief thing. With that the man was moving away from David, his path taking him to the counter. David had to wonder why, if they had so many things to do in so little time, the man would hit the counter. Probably to pick some treat up for his sister, he realized. With that settled David pushed his way out of the cafe. 

For the life of him, though, he couldn't help but peek back through the cafe window. Was Alex really going to take a while? What he found as he glanced back was surprising. Had he ever seen Alex interact with Sarge in the past? Of course not, given the differences between their schedules, and he supposed the man had to know Sarge some given he almost exclusively came in during the older man's shift, but he had never thought about it before. And he definitely wasn't certain how to take Alex all but leaning over the pastry display to talk to Sarge, because there was something strange to it. Something in his body language if David had to put a finger on it. The way Alex leaned forward, the slightly flustered look on Sarge's face, it was weird. Weird enough to keep David there watching as the pair spoke. 

After a minute David was ready to move away, something that was stopped when he saw Alex reach out to touch Sarge's shoulder. With that the two men moved off to the side, almost out of sight. Weird. Very weird. Frowning, David moved at last to his car. That was something he would have to ask about later. Granted it probably wasn't his business, but friends were meant to be nosy and concerned for each other. So it wasn't too bad for him to take his phone back out and shoot Alex a quick text. 

_/Is there a particular reason you needed to talk to Sarge? I mean, the two of you seem pretty friendly./_

Of course a response wasn't going to be coming soon, so David turned his attention to the process of getting settled into his car and the driving. Plus ignoring the strange discomfort in his gut. Instead he focused on the layout of his kitchen back at home. Did he have all the pots and pans he needed yet? He had gone out shopping with Daniel recently and acquired more, and given how much time they had to work with, it was going to have to do. Tonight he'd even be able to finally show off to Connie just how far he had come as a cook, so there was a perk right there. 

Provided no one expected him to make a birthday cake from scratch on his lonesome and the women didn't abandon them again tonight everything should be nice. Granted he didn't think Connie would do that now that he was with Shaun, so that was a relief. 

Shaun. He didn't even know how Alex thought about the course he had taken with the other man. Tonight would be as good a chance as any to figure that out he supposed. 

He just had to hope the reaction was not going to be a bad one. 

* * * * * *

Well, with the plans for tonight all but finished and David on his way, there was only one thing left for Alex to do. Which was deal with the situation he remembered from Friday night. Sarge in his apartment and... A lot to figure out, and they at least had some time in the clear. With the front door chiming as it closed, Alex's attention turned to his target. Well, thinking of it that way probably implied weird things, but he wasn't going to delve into that right now. 

“Sarge?” he called out, moving toward the pastry case. The man in question was focused on the orange clad form of Grif, who was standing at the coffee machine. 

“Damn idiot, you need to clean out old ground beans before you brew another pot. I tell you every damn...”

“Sarge,” Alex repeated a bit louder. He was certain the man would ignore him if allowed to. “Just a minute please?” 

There was a sag to the man's shoulders that told Alex that he was finally going to acknowledge him. Alex followed the shift of his shoulders, the resignation in the motion, which was far more than he would have believed possible for such a proud man. Quite interesting, but he wished the man didn't seem so upset about him. AT last Sarge turned to face him, moving to meet Alex at the pastry counter. For a moment he was struck by the differences in their height, which made no sense. Why take note of it now when he should have nights ago?

“What do ya need?” Sarge asked, his voice gruff and almost dismissive. 

As if Alex would go away so easily. 

“I wanted to thank you again,” he answered. “I got home safely thanks to you, and I wanted to say how much I appreciated that. I needed a friend that night, and you were there when no one else was. Thank you.”

“I told you before that it was nothing. I helped. Sometimes I do that,” Sarge shrugged, trying to set the information aside, trying to make everything into nothing. 

He wasn't getting away with that today. Alex reached across the counter to lay a hand on Sarge's shoulder. The place was quiet enough for a talk and he intended to have that talk. His touch drew Sarge's eyes to his head and that got his attention. After a long moment he nodded. A brief gesture towards Simmons freed Sarge and moved them toward the break room. Well, the locker room for the employees, as it were. But there they were, silent, waiting. How was he supposed to know how to start this conversation? 

“I guess I should thank you for more than just the walk home. Should thank you for everything really. The... ear to listen. The points you made. The kiss.”

Who knew such a simple word could make such a strong and stubborn man go stiff. Fear maybe? Weird, Alex wouldn't have thought the man so easily rattled. If the situation were an y other he would be amused. As it was, well, he wanted to pierce through all of that. After all, this was a conversation, or was meant to be. How could he make the man understand that?

“Just forget it happened,” Sarge insisted, moving for the door. He was not getting away, though. Alex shifted so his body blocked Sarge from leaving. More than anything he needed just get the words out. Once that was done, he would be more than happy to go. 

“I can't,” Alex answered bluntly. “You said that you can't do anything to give me a good break. But the thing is, you already have given me a break. And maybe you could give me another. A better one.”

“Huh?” Sarge asked, quite clearly caught off guard by the statement that didn't really state anything. 

“I'm saying that if it works for you then maybe you might consider a repeat of the time we spent together on my birthday. Except with a movie or dinner or going paintballing or something”

There was a brief twinkle of delight in Sarge's eyes at that final suggestion, but it didn't remove the tension from the man at all. Was he not being straight-forward enough? Would Sarge even be able to handle straight-forward?

“I don't quite understand what you're getting at, Blondie,” Sarge answered Alex's wondering with a good bit of disappointment on Alex's part. 

“I'm saying a date, Sarge. Possibly more than one. And if it doesn't work then it doesn't work and we'll be friends.” 

Was it really that hard to be understood? Alex didn't think so. Then again, it had been a long time since he dared to ask someone out, so maybe he was messing up somehow. 

“I ain't looking to be your rebound from the emotional let down of losing out to the smooth-talker,” Sarge insisted immediately and firmly. “Plain and simple.”

Oh. Alex stood there in shock for a long moment. Was that was this was? If he had to be a judge of it, he knew he could hardly be a good one. So how was he supposed to answer the concern? 

“That wasn't the intention, but I can understand the concern,” he let himself admit at last. “The only think I can offer you now is my word that this isn't meant to be that. That I'd try my best. Which I know isn't enough but...”

Alex was stopped by Sarge shaking his head and raising a hand. 

“Trying from you has got to be worth more than from a lot of other people. So let me put it out straight from the word go. I ain't going to be doing nothing bed-like. I got no interest in any of that. I also don't do fancy restaurants. And if I call it off it is off with no argument, no protest, no pleading. You got it?”

Speechless, Alex merely nodded. Those were all things he could easily do. Ground rules were a comforting notion as well. Knowing form the start what was and wasn't expected worked for him. He could even applaud the idea of no burdens or expectations related to restaurants, seeing as he was bigger on cooking for himself anyway. 

“And no telling my idiot shift,” Sarge continued. “Funnier to watch them try and figure it out on their own. Fifty says when Grif does his voice goes girly levels of high.”

“No bet,” Alex chuckled, finally finding his voice again. “But if he does, I'll pay for a round of paintball.”

“Almost makes me want to tell him now,” Sarge chuckled richly, and it left a bit of a smile on his lips as he produced an order pad from his apron. With a quick, barely legible scrawl and a loud rip of paper Alex had Sarge's number thrust at him, the name over it listed only as 'Sarge'. 

“I've always wondered if that was your real name or what,” Alex admitted as he tucked the paper safely away into his pocket. “Don't suppose I get to know...”

“Nope,” Sarge answered without hesitation. “Gotta run that bit of information. Prove yourself worthy, all that honor stuff.”

“Sounds like fun,” Alex smiled. “I need to get going. Have to really restock the food stores at home now that I'm back and have had a chance to breathe.”

“Of course. Your sister strikes me as an order in and microwave sort of person, right?”

“In the worst way,” Alex immediately agreed. “Without Connie or me she'd be doomed.”

“I get that,” Sarge shrugged. “A bit like that myself. Anyway, I need to get back to work. Expect Grif broke something by now and is hiding it from Simmons. See you later”

“Yeah,” Alex agreed with a small wave. With that the pair of them left the locker room, heading their separate ways. Alex allowed himself a glance toward the older man behind the counter. Seeing him going straight back to berating Grif was entertaining. 

It wasn't until he was outside that he pulled out his cell to enter the number. Of course before that he found a text from David and smirked. 

_/Is there a particular reason you needed to talk to Sarge? I mean, the two of you seem pretty friendly./_

There was no way David would begin to believe him, because Alex could barely believe it himself. No, he needed time to figure out how to present this to his friend. To his sister as well. At least he could buy time before saying it by using Sarge's request as a defensive measure. Sure David wasn't on Sarge's staff, but that didn't mean telling David wouldn't get back to Red Shift. So waiting would have to suffice. 

_/Wanted to pay him back a bit. He was at the bar I went to on Halloween. Bought me a few drinks./_

That handled, he returned to punching Sarge's number in. After a brief thought he sent a brief hello to Sarge's phone so the man would have his number as well. Which meant the last thing he had to think about was going to pick up David at the apartment. His friend. He just needed to keep it framed properly in his head. 

A quick meow from his pocket announced a new text from David, and Alex sighed as he fished the thing back out to check the message. 

_/You went drinking with Sarge? Why would you do that?/_

Really? Then again Alex had to remember David barely knew the man. They didn't work at the same time. Their interaction was a brief overlap as Sarge came in and David left. So Alex had to keep that in mind for his reply. 

_/We both happened to be there. And don't text while driving./_

Barely enough time passed for Alex to get to his car and unlock it before David's response demanded attention. Why had he left his sister talk him into such a pathetic, mewling sort of tone for David's messages anyway? 

_/Called voice to test. Fuck Siri. That was text. No! Don't send that!/_

Alex let himself laugh heartily before climbing into his car. No way he was going to respond. He would rather show David the text in person. 

Tonight, he thought as he started the car, was going to be the best. 

* * * * * *

“Seriously, snickers?” David couldn't help but laugh at the improbability of it as Alex wielded the frosting knife with considerable skill, smoothing the chocolate butter cream to impressive levelness. 

“Seriously,” Alex agreed, a touch of pride in his voice. “Ones you are supposed to be opening now.”

The gentle chiding was hardly something that should have made David embarrassed. Nonetheless he could feel heat rising into his cheeks, especially over how easily he had left himself get distracted over Alex, especially his hands. It was the way they could be absolutely still while he worked, holding the knife motionless with one hand while the other turned the cake on its spinning stand. Shaun's hands always seemed to be moving, fidgeting, fiddling and exploring. Never in a bad way of course. Just very, very different. 

“Sorry, sir,” David chuckled to try and cast off his nervous energy, returning his attention to the bowl of chocolates before him. Their cooking had reached an intermediate point, between the baking being finished and everything else prepped and ready for the word go. The word was waiting on Connie and Alexa to show up post work, because it would hardly do to eat without them. 

“Please don't call me that,” Alex groaned. David looked up for half a moment, confused by the reaction. When Alex set the frosting knife aside David rushed his attention back to his task of unwrapping. They were in the not silence of crinkling foil for a bit, punctuated by clanks of chocolates into a shallow bowl. Finally Alex spoke, even as his long fingers fished a chocolate out from between David's hands. 

“Things can get weird when I'm doing work for the University out of the states. This time was a weird one. The man I was sent out to work with had two students there with him. Clearly they craved his approval, some had two students there with him. So they either called him by his title, or by 'sir'. Having been deemed an authority figure and attached to him while there, I was also sir. Don't think I've ever been so uncomfortable in my life,” Alex admitted with a sigh. 

“Then how about I just call you ma'am?” David teased, hoping to lighten the mood. Given the man was immediately grinning, clearly on the edge of the laugh, he had to think he succeeded. 

“I might be able to handle that. But if you use it in front of Alexa I am going to be actively cross,” Alex warned him. “Not even kidding.”

“I would deserve no less,” David agreed. “So don't worry about it. We will go with Alex and you will know I'm saying ma'am. Easy. Now tell me more about Australia.”

“I'd rather not,” Alex answered as he selected another chocolate so he could work on the near paving of the top of the cake with chocolate cobbles. “Can I tell you about here instead?”

“Here?” 

“It's spring there, and it's already surprisingly hot,” Alex sighed. “And the place I was using as my base had the firmest bed ever. Like a rock. When I fell into my bed the first night back I would have passed out in relief of the softness. Except, you know... it was noisy.”

David was still embarrassed by that. His face went scarlet at the reminder. “Promise it will never happen again. We are so sorry it...”

Alex raised a placating hand. Clearly he was over it, or wanted to seem that way. Either way David knew better than to push that. Maybe Alex got it, maybe he didn't. But moving on was moving on. 

“The other great thing here? I get to be the one cooking,” Alex smiled, almost serenely, down at the cake. “No little kitchen there, in my hotel room. Instead I had a per diem allotment for meals. Sometimes people would invite me over and they would cook but never me. Now I ge to be back in my kitchen, master of all I survey. Except anything Alexa's name is on. She's way past picky. Love her, but the fridge took all this time to clean out to make room for actual ingredients. The only thing she cooks is no-bake cookies and we have no cocoa powder left.”

Clearly because they had brought a pair of tins of them at the store. “So, cooking was what you missed the most?”

“I didn't have the people that mattered most to me there,” Alex answered easily as he worked. “Oh, and the fall air. I love it. The crisp way it feels against you skin, the coolness that makes your cheeks sting with cold and pleasure as winter starts to sneak forward. And of course I get to bring my sweaters out.”

“The weather?” David asked with a chuckle and a shake of his head. “Out of everything that you didn't have access to, everything that wasn't there, everything that people like and say they wish they didn't leave behind, and you missed the weather?”

The smile Alex wore was positively wistful and David had to swallow down his pleasure at the look. How could a man be so very, very good? David smiled back and shook his head again. “Alright then, let's pretend you said something more uplifting and finish the cake, okay?”

The comment made the man nod in agreement and with a gesture he directed David's attention back to the candies. There were only a few more to be handled, and David tried to focus on his own hands rather than the strong line of Alex's back and the way the violet sweater the man wore hugged his chest tightly in all the right ways. David was jealous of that body. A small part of him that focused on Shaun at most times said that his boyfriend's more compact form was quite pleasing in its own way. He wanted to reach out and... 

“We're home! I hope everyone is decent!” 

Once, back when he was in high school, Connie had waltzed into David's room with the same announcement, while Ethan had him pressed against the wall with lips at his neck. Somehow David found this moment with him carefully unwrapping candies for the cake far more embarrassing than that day. He wasn't even touching Alex! Still, he was thankful to see the two women crossing the living room, tossing their coats aside onto the chair before they made their way to the other side of the breakfast bar from where David was sitting. 

“Looks like it,” Alexa noted as she left Connie behind to head to the fridge and fish a pitcher out of it. “Drinks anyone?”

“If you get drunk and ruin my meal, I'm going to mess you up,” Alex warned his twin and David laughed, shaking his head. This was nice, the ease these three people had with each other. They had even welcomed him in. Alexa and Connie had been great, not as close as Nate after he met the man.

“Drink and be merry,” Alexa countered, putting the pitcher down loudly next to David before moving to fetch cups. Connie rolled her eyes at the display and offered David a little smile. After another moment her hand reached out to curl her fingers around those of one of David's hands. 

“Looks like Alex didn't let us snatch you. Which was good. Tell me you kept Alex from making an eight course meal.”

“Uh...” David said briefly, frowning. “I might have added two.”

“Traitor. How am I going to keep my girlish figure if he feeds us all too much?” Connie asked, drama in her voice as she shook her head. 

“Work out more with me,” Alexa answered for him, a smirk on her lips. “In fact, you should have seen it today. The guy you sent me, David, he's a beast. Nate actually put me on my ass twice in the ring today. Damn military tactics and training beat me and it wasn't fair.”

“Nate, the large guy in the Master Chief getup at the party?” Alex asked as he put the last piece of chocolate in place. 

“Yeah,” David smiled as he sat up straighter. “Met him while you were gone, almost immediately after actually. Marine. Daniel and him, they sorta started a romance while Nate was here after leaving the service for a family reunion. He was going to head back up to Maine when he was done, but instead he's going to be staying with Daniel. I helped him find work with Alexa, and he's been helping to train her self defense classes.”

“My intention is to get him all the way to helping out with training people who want to do competitive stuff,” Alexa grinned, and David can see the glee in her gaze. “His take-downs may not be the best, but he's got a lot of force behind him and he knows how to get people to learn how to use it as well. The business is going to boom with him to back me up. And he has the perk of making Shaun annoyed.”

“French,” Connie chuckled, shaking her head, and David joined her. 

“French?” Alex asked, and David had to smile. If Alexa could speak it, so could Alex. 

“Oui,” David agreed. “See, Shaun can't speak it. But it turns out that not only do the three of us speak it to different levels, but Daniel and Nate speak it as first or second languages I guess, and even Michael does to a degree. Shaun grew up with Daniel but never really learned the language and it makes him a touch frustrated to hear it all.” 

Just a sentence made Shaun glare at David and pounce on him later in a great way. That made him smile. 

“Sounds like you've got a new way to drive your boyfriend up the wall, is that a good thing?” 

The tone Alex gave him was genuinely worried. A friend wanting to be certain that they didn't drive their boyfriend away from them. That there wasn't something to relationship that made things difficult for them. It was a kind of affection that made David smile. 

“Yeah,” David smiled as he unwrapped the last candy and dropped it into the bowl. “He knows we do it to make him frustrated. We get a good laugh. And it means I can keep secrets from him to plan surprises if needed. And the way he glares just... it makes me smile. Is that weird?”

“Yes,” Alex said even as Connie shook her head and Alexa huffed. Apparently they had opinions about it all. 

“It's not that bad though,” Alex quickly continued. “Does he make you smile, David?”

In ways that he hadn't in a very, very long time. He knew, or hee thhoughtt he knew, why Alex asked. Alex, Connie, they both knew about Ethan, or had their suspicions, and David knew it. To have the two of them smiling now was helpful. 

“He does,” David agreed, his voice soft. “Really. I feel... it was more than I expected, Alex, I mean... your advice was a lot more helpful than I ever would have thought it could be. I'm happy.” 

Alex nodded and reached out to pat David on the back. 

“Good,” Alexa spoke up. “Because if the man hurts you, I am pretty sure Alex is going to have me break some bones. So let's avoid that since my number one employee is sorta dating his best friend.” 

“I could beat him up on my own, and I would,” Alex countered. 

“Not if you don't get back to your physical training you won't,” Alexa shrugged. 

Within moments she was going back into discussions of her gym and training regimen, and David was happy to sit back and listen. Here and now he didn't know if there was anything more he could want. 

* * * * * *

Shaun had always thought of himself as a fit man. Never had any real issues moving his own furniture, he could carry his packs with ease, and it was easy to lift David into his arms and carrying him about when he wanted or needed. None of that prepared him for just how hard of a time he was having keeping up with Nate. 

“You know, not everyone can carry three people on their back and move a car with a single hand at the same time.” Shaun didn't exactly wheeze as he worked to handle the weight of his side of the dresser. Nate, of course, wasn't even breathing hard. 

“Can't if you don't try,” Nate countered as he backed up, the asshole could lift everything and still manage to back up without looking like he'd trip, to get into the right location for the dresser. This was the second one they had to move. The first had been in an attempt to move Daniel's into a better position so his bedroom could contain the second one for Nate. There were other things they were doing too, like switching out for a more comfortable fold-out couch, adding in more storage space in other ways, and the list only went on from there. 

“Not everything is about a can-do mentality, soldier,” Shaun groaned. A nod from Nate was all the gesture he needed to have him set his side of the large dresser down, and it was a relief to do it. Immediately Shaun stepped back to rub at his arms. They were sore, but it was a good sore, the sore that said he'd done something good. Helping his best friend was definitely a good thing. 

“Not everyone whines when they do something difficult,” Nate countered with a shrug. Asshole didn't even have the decency to be sweating. 

“Well I like to be special,” Shaun answered easily, only to hear snickering behind him. “If I turn around and you're there laughing at me, Danny, I will have to pinch you.”

“Really? Nate, would you let him do that?” 

“I surrender,” Shaun corrected himself as he turned to face his friend. While he and Nate had the hard task of taking care of the furniture, Daniel was responsible for the smaller parts of the transition. Clothes had been washed today and needed folding, dinner that wasn't merely pizza needed to be prepared for them all, and on top of it they needed a peace maker. Not that Shaun couldn't get along with Nate. It was just...

The man wasn't what he had ever expected for his friend. It wasn't like he thought Nate wasn't good enough for Daniel. It was... something else. But he supposed both of them were changing. Being adults did that. 

“Good choice,” Nate answered from behind Shaun, and Shaun refused to let that shake him. 

“Thanks,” Shaun shrugged as he walked past them. “You know, if you're serious about moving in together, maybe you should go shopping. New drapes, matching couple's towels, those sorts of things.”

He immediately danced away from Nate. All through the evening he had been jabbing Nate with that, and his friend and the larger man never used the word 'moving'. How neither of them could understand that Nate crashing long term on Daniel's couch while they were dating definitely fell into the category of living together. Definitely meant serious. Neither of them liked it. Nate, though, seemed to be getting closer and closer to taking a swipe at him. 

“I think we'll be good with what we have,” Daniel countered simply as he moved out of the bedroom. “Now, since we have that in place, will you two please come out to the living room? I've taken a look at the couch and it really needs to be about two feet to the right.”

“You're kidding me,” Shaun groaned in frustration. “Come on, Danny, surely it's not that important right now. Please tell me it's not that important right now.”

“It's important to me right now,” Daniel countered as Shaun trailed after his friend, “and I don't have people over here enough to take care of all of it for me. Even Nate can only do so much. Right?”

That comment earned Daniel a brief grumble in French which left Shaun twitching in annoyance before he threw himself down onto the couch itself. Of course they were using French. Stupid realizations, stupid everyone talking over his head and leaving him behind. He was going to learn this damn language and show them all that they couldn't hide their insults from him. 

“That isn't polite,” Daniel chided from somewhere behind Shaun and off to the left.

“I'm sure it wasn't,” Shaun answered, throwing a sore arm over his eyes to block out the light of a nearby lamp.

“I was talking to you. You're on the couch we're about to move.” 

The words came just before strong arms moved Shaun's legs roughly to the side, and then there was a light weight beside him. Shaun peeked out from under his arm and he saw Daniel sitting with Nate leaning over the back of the couch to frown down at him. 

“Come on, guys, I'm only human here. Let me have a minute to rest, okay?” 

“Of course,” Daniel smiled across at him and Shaun was relieved to have that look from his friend. 

Since Nate came into the picture Daniel was not always as easy to pin down, mostly because a lot of his time had become about the other man. Shaun really didn't have a place to speak, given the fact that he spent a lot of time with David now. Perhaps he and Daniel needed to set up a very specific day of the week that was just for them, for the people who knew what it was like to grow up where they did and how they did. He refused to lose a connection just because they had people in their lives. 

“Listen, I know I'm being a brat, especially to you, Nate, but I am still happy for the two of you. Finding each other is pretty cool. Not everyone gets that. I don't even know how I got it,” Shaun admitted nervously. 

“You're a good person,” Nate offered immediately.

“Not that this is necessarily long term,” Daniel added. “Nate is still looking for his own place. Of course, I won't throw you out as long as you need this space.”

Shaun covered his eyes again and he was more than happy to not see them making cute faces at each other. Still, a smile curved his own lips at the thought of just how happy this big lug made his friend. Someone Daniel could fall back on and believe in that wasn't him was perfect. Someone he could trust enough to allow in his space was even better. 

The murmuring in another language made Shaun sit up again at last. “Come on, let's get this couch moved. Not like anyone else is going to swoop in to help us with this.”

“Not even David?” Daniel asked. 

They all knew his boyfriend wasn't coming, or Shaun had thought as much. Maybe Daniel had thought that Shaun might get bored and invite his boyfriend over to help anyway, but not this time. A guy couldn't spend every waking moment with a new boyfriend, especially not one as skittish as David could be at times. Sure, Shaun would love to have him around more, but he wasn't going to push it. For half a moment he thought of that scar on his boyfriend's body, the one that didn't belong with what little he knew of the man's background, and then he pushed himself abruptly up from the couch. 

“No, he's taking the night to himself. I think he got invited over to some party now that his friend Alex is back in town. Wasn't going to drag him here for this anyway. No offense, Nate, he could probably use a nap.”

Nate shrugged behind the couch. He placed a brief hand on Daniel's shoulder and just like that the smaller man was rising and moving away from the couch. It freed up a place for Nate to stand by one arm, and Shaun took his appointed place on the other end. 

“About that...” Daniel said as Shaun got a good grip on the monster of a couch. 

“After we've moved it. Don't want him dropping it on his foot,” Nate interrupted. That made Shaun raise a curious eyebrow before the other man was gesturing for him to lift. 

There were more pressing things on his mind then, and seeing as he would get an answer soon enough Shaun opted to stay silent and focus on the couch. No one spoke as they moved with Nate walking backward again, and Shaun kept a careful watch on Daniel. When his friend waved for them to stop he was quite relieved to put the couch down. Stupid wood floors and not being able to push things. Oh well. 

“Now what could we not talk about for fear of crushing my foot?”

Daniel looked to Nate, some clear communication passing between the other two men as Shaun watched. Now they were apparently capable of telepathy, another way they could talk behind his back or over his head or whatever else they wanted. 

“David has neighbors,” Nate said at length. It was such an opaque answer that Shaun ignored it in favor of moving the coffee table to line up with the couch. 

“A lot of people do, big guy. In fact, since you're staying here, you have me as a neighbor... so I guess I want to know what your point is?”

When he looked back up he found that Daniel had somehow slipped away on silent feet. It was a talent his friend had always possessed, and often used against Shaun to leave him in awkward places. Which meant this was about to get awkward, didn't it? 

“Find a wall that isn't shared by his friend and neighbor.”

Find a what? Shaun stared for a moment before what Nate meant really hit home. Rarely had he ever considered himself a man that was uncomfortable about sex, but the way Nate said it almost made him red in the face. How did the big guy know? Likely because David and Nate had connected rather well in the last weeks. Not that Shaun could figure out exactly what united the pair, but he respected it. None of that prepared him for being lectured on sex by a guy that he was pretty certain still hadn't kissed Daniel. 

“Excuse me?” Shaun found himself asking as Nate stood there, the big man crossing his arms over his chest. 

“You heard me,” Nate replied, the words simple and brooking no argument. “David is private, all of us can see that. You got away with some stuff because that Alex guy was out of town, but he's back and he's David's friend, and he's going to have limits. Has enough of them that he mentioned to me how uncomfortable he felt when he found out Alex heard you two. I'm just saying you need to figure out those limits yourself instead of having me explain them. And you better respect them or I might have to accidentally drop a dresser on your foot.”

It clearly wasn't an empty threat. 

“Daniel wouldn't be pleased with you if you did that.”

Nate just shrugged and turned away, heading toward the kitchen. Clearly the man thought the conversation was over. Nothing more needing said. Perhaps he was right. Still... it was far from done in Shaun's own head. He flopped down on the couch once more and wondered what was worse: the idea that David wasn't able to bring that point up himself, the idea that they might have been caught in the act by someone, or that the idea of Alex listening in on them was more than slightly hot. 

Dammit, why did life have to get complicated just as it all seemed to be coming together?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi I'm doing my best.


	25. Part Eighteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two weeks, two chapters? Will the wonders never end.

Perhaps the reason the image stuck so powerfully in Shaun’s mind, even as he steps out into the brisk cold of the November morning and shivers into his scarf, was because of how perfect it was. A bone in his craw as it were. The lingering taste of a wine too good to forget, not that Shaun was very big into wine either. What a pretty image his dream had made as well, the perfection of David’s skin pressed bare against the gray of David’s sheets, the sweet and fading autumn tan touched by skin the shade of winter snows. Perhaps it the brush of wintery skin against the more spring to early summers of David’s body that got him. But there was no denying the beauty of his dream. 

“You look like you’re about to drool,” Daniel mumbled, his own voice practically swallowed up by the scarf around his neck. It was an old thing, something Shaun was hoping to replace for him this Christmas, because Daniel would never accept a gift just for the sake of taking care of him. 

“You can’t see my mouth,” Shaun countered as they turned in the direction of the cafe and their pending dose of caffeine. “So you don’t know that I’m drooling.”

“Which you just confirmed,” Daniel returned as he strode up closer. Today Nate wasn’t hovering at his shoulder, the big man’s day starting later due to some situation or other Alex’s twin had gotten up to. 

Alex… The thought of the man brought the memory of the dream back with him. David spread out on his own bed, gorgeous and hungry, his eyes blown wide with his desire. Strong arms pressed against his shoulders, pinning him, holding him, expecting things from him. Strong pale arms that matched a strong pale torso and icy pale eyes and soft golden hair. The image of Alex leaning over David in that damn skimpy toga, lips working over the column of David’s neck just like Shaun liked to do, like he knew David lived for, and the noises it drew from his lover was just… 

Thank god for the cold and multiple layers. Shaun buried his face in his gloved hands as if he was going to blow on them. Of course Daniel would know it was just an effort to hide himself. After the conversations he’d had with Nate--or more accurately that the big guy had forced on him--in the last two days since the moving mess, Shaun had definitely gotten one message. Leave poor Daniel with his lack of interest in sex as far out of Shaun’s desires as possible.

“Nothing going on here, D. Just an adult having adult thoughts in his own private adult mind. Nothing to share or say here. Don’t mind me.”

When you’ve known a person for a long time, you can can almost sense when they are rolling their eyes. Not only could Shaun feel that now, but he could even feel the resigned sigh that would have been mingled with it. He almost wanted to smile over that fact. At the same time he didn’t think he cared to tease Daniel for it, not really caring to drag Daniel into this newest… oddity to his social life. Being turned on by the idea of his SO sleeping with someone else wasn’t something he’d ever experienced before, and when that someone else was clearly his chief romantic rival… 

Nothing about this was normal or acceptable. 

“He just mulling things over on his own again?” 

“When does he…”

The voice must have registered to Daniel a bit later than it did for Shaun. Because the second he heard the first syllable Shaun had stopped moving. Stopped thinking. Stopped breathing. That was all he could do when he heard that voice, all he had ever done. 

Charlotte was a master of cutting him off at the pass, no doubt about it. 

“Char?” Daniel’s voice came out as a gasp as Shaun slowly turned to look at the woman behind him. 

Of course she would be here now, as his life was starting to settle into something he liked, that he felt accomplished with, something that he had achieved outside of her. Beyond her. After her. And of course just seeing her would leave a terrible ache in his chest, burning in him with a sort of want that he hadn’t thought was possible to feel again until he’d come to care about David. Just seeing her made him want to earn that smile, golden warm and perfectly shaped, framed as always by the curl of the end of her ponytail, the dyed red a splash of vivid color that matched her lipstick and stood out in the most wondrous way from the soft aqua of her coat. It was only a light coat, something that always left Shaun confused. A girl from Texas should not have the sort of tolerance for the cold that Shaun always lacked despite his background in the New England region. 

“Hey Dee,” Charlotte greeted, her voice a sweet warmth as she reached out to embrace the man he had once shared with her as best friend. Not that Daniel was ever as close to Charlotte as he was to Shaun. 

Maybe he was a bit possessive after all of this time, after everything she did. And didn’t do. 

It was almost like he could feel the ghost of the ring box that used to wait in his pocket for the right moment that had never come. 

“Charlotte, I thought you had gone back south,” Daniel greeted with joy, the hug clearly a welcome one. Just seeing them like that made Shaun feel betrayed. How could Daniel, HIS best friend, reach out to her like that after everything that happened? But really, how could he be that unfair to Daniel? Just because Charlotte had up and walked away didn’t mean Daniel had to lose that fondness for her he’d always had. 

“Work takes me a lot of interesting places,” she shrugged when she pulled away from the smaller man, her gaze turning to regard Shaun at long last. Her eyes were still the same piercing green that made even Daniel’s look plain. Stupid biology. How many times had he gotten caught up in them and wished to have those eyes look at him and him alone? No, fuck that. Fuck all of this. He wasn’t going to take it. “Shaun?” 

“I thought I got the city in the divorce,” he answered quite blandly. No offered hugs were going to be accepted by him. Not after… 

“Yeah, I did have an agreement there, but there was a stipulation that I wouldn’t be constrained in the course of my work,” Charlotte returned, but there was a touch of amusement in her voice. Like all of this was some sort of game. As if seeing her didn’t make him want to reach out and pull her into his arms, hold her, kiss her, promise never to let her down again. 

Strange how at this point he could almost believe it was him that let her down, rather than the other way round. 

“Glad you got work,” Shaun replied. There was no way he had gotten enough caffeine into him to face this. To face anything that had to do with Charlotte Church. Better not to face her without his morning drink in his hands. Maybe he’d ask David to make it double strong. 

David. 

“Maybe we should try somewhere else for breakfast, Danny,” Shaun grumbled. He wanted to walk to Connie’s, but… Could he have his ex-girlfriend, almost fiancee, around the man he was now involved with? That seemed like a bad idea. Definitely a bad idea. 

“Nonsense, Char would love the sorts of things Connie serves,” Daniel countered. The man offered an arm to the woman, one Charlotte gladly took. 

“Oh, are you buying me breakfast, Daniel? Shaun pays you enough for that? I’m quite happy to see you’re doing well then,” she teased. Shaun wanted to be sick at the laughter in her voice. He used to live to drive such noises from her, to earn her smiles. He lived to love her. How dare she come back into his life? 

“Of course. I would be glad to, seeing as Nate covers mine many mornings now,” he admitted, and Shaun just turned to walk ahead of them. Hearing her was bad enough. Seeing her like little had changed when the whole world was different, he couldn’t accept that. Wouldn’t put up with it. Except for the fact that the words made it too real. 

“Nate? Who’s Nate?” Charlotte asked as Shaun shoved his fists into his pockets and tried, very hard, to make her voice sound like someone else’s. Maybe his sister’s. She would be a better person to just randomly waltz back into his life, even if he wasn’t too big on his siblings most of the time. Or his mother. No, better than that, Daniel’s mother. Yeah, if he could just imagine her… 

“My boyfriend,” Daniel admitted behind him, his voice shy. He had never been shy over talking about Nate, not to anyone. Could this have to do with the fact that everyone else had been there to watch the relationship grow? Or was it because Daniel, just like Shaun, had always wanted to impress Charlotte, though for entirely different reasons? 

“Really? Congratulations Daniel. I hope he’s good enough for you or I might have to beat him up,” she teased, her voice that sweet sort of reassuring she used when someone had done something that really pleased her. Her teacher voice, Shaun used to call it. Once Charlotte had wanted nothing more than to be an art teacher for kids in underprivileged areas. When that had changed he didn’t know, it just had. A lot had changed between them a lot of times, so he didn’t care to pinpoint when exactly they had started to fall apart. The one that had got away as it were. Not that anyone could hold Charlotte to do anything she didn’t want to do. 

“You’d have a hard time,” Daniel said with clear pride in his voice. “Nate was a marine. He works with a gym now, training fighters and teaching self defense to women and children who need it.”

There was an appreciative hum granted to him by the woman, and Shaun wanted to turn around and lecture her about being so patronizing. But he didn’t need to stand up for Nate. Or want to. That man would see through her in ways that Shaun and Daniel never had. Or maybe he would be charmed just like everyone else. 

He hoped, with a deep intensity, that David wouldn’t fall for it. Wouldn’t fall for her like people seemed to do. If he lost David to her then he didn’t know what he’d do. The only thing that could be worse than that would be to lose himself once again to the way his heart jumped over seeing her, hearing her, being near her. Thank god he wasn’t close enough to smell the light cinnamon scent of her perfume. Thank god he wasn’t the one touching her, reminded of how good it felt to be the center of her attention. He had someone else he wanted to captivate now, and the last thing he needed was the siren-song of Charlotte Church back in his head. 

Shaun had finally been able to get free of the thoughts about her, the depression that came with wanting to be around her and being dropped, and now here she was. Back in the picture. Someone out there in the grand cosmos didn’t like him very much. He wanted to find them and give them a piece of his mind. And maybe a fist to the face. Could you punch the cosmos? Shaun wanted to be the first person to find out. 

* * * * * *

His eyelids were heavy. A relatively useless observation, David knew, but that didn’t keep him from making it. The other observation that came up was the fact that his alarm had come and gone at least five times now and his arm felt heavier than it might have had it been encased in cement. And there, he supposed, was an observation he wasn’t expecting. A stupid sort of comparison that only came with a few very rare circumstances, and as David was certain he wasn’t drunk… 

Despite the weight that his arm was, and the fact that his tongue felt like it had been licking the road in an attempt to wear a groove into asphalt, David finally fumbled for his phone. It took a few reaches, a minor battle with the charging cord, and a weak protesting groan when Siri came on despite his lack of desire for her, but in the end he was able to unlock the thing and get the right number cued up. 

It rang three times before the answer came. 

“If you’re calling to tell me you’re going to be late, David, I already know,” Connie answered. 

“I’m alive, be happy,” David responded with a groan. “You’re going to need to survive without me, Bec. I have to take a sick day. I feel bad. Worse than bad. Super bad.”

“I can hear it in your voice, David,” she assured him. “And I can’t have you in here if you’re sick. So take care of yourself, make sure you get plenty of fluids and sleep, and I’ll see if I can spare someone to come and check up on you during they day.”

“I can handle myself,” he protested weakly. 

“Yeah, because you were ever good at that when you were sick. I seem to remember checking in on you one time after you were out from school and your mom said you collapsed in the kitchen when you were going to make yourself soup. I don’t rightly trust your ability to take care of yourself and without me being there I intend to put someone I can trust in position to take care of you. So just… stay okay until I get you help.”

David would have scoffed but, well, that just wasn’t in his realm of possibility at this time. Nor were rude gestures. So he just grunted his agreement and hung up, tossing his phone aside. Which was, in and of itself, far more energy consuming than he would have expected. Yes, today was going to be one of those sorts of sick days that must left him weaker than a kitten. Oooh, kitten. And that, of course, only went to prove that he was not feeling well. Cats were definitely a good thing, but even he had to be composed. 

Food. David needed that more than anything, which meant that he moved to push himself to his feet with a groan. All he had to do was take it easy. Slowly get to his feet and shuffle toward the kitchen and he would have access to warm food and maybe no coffee but definitely the orange juice he bought two days ago. Once his feet were firmly on the floor he was ready to put weight on them. They were good things, feet. They could be strong and hold you up when you weren’t up and… 

“David? David, wake up.”

His eyelids were heavy. David groaned at the repeated thought and forced them open anyway. For a while his gaze lingered on the tight spiral of the fibers of his carpet. They were nice, those spirals, they were cosy and all gathered together. Friendly like. But they were rough on his cheek and David most definitely didn’t belong on the floor. Especially not imagining Alex’s very, VERY lovely voice. 

“David? Geez,” the voice of Alex repeated, and then there was a hand on his shoulder making him real. Real enough for David to look up and frown at him. “How did you…?”

“Connie gave me the spare key,” Alex answered, concern in his voice. “I went in for breakfast a bit earlier than normal, sleep schedule sucks at the moment, and she said she needed someone to check in on you, make sure you hadn’t hurt yourself. I’m glad she sent me.”

“We only talked, like, five minutes ago,” David groaned as the larger man helped him to his feet. And then right back onto the bed he’d worked so hard to get out of. 

“Try an hour,” Alex corrected. “When I stopped in she’d been off the phone with you for a while. She tried to talk me into being your nurse by threatening me with my sister. I offered to do it because I’ve got a slow day of reviewing images from my work and doing some initial review. Which I can do on the laptop I left behind in the living room when I came to look in on you. Good thing I did. Have you been sleeping there?”

“No,” David whined, but when his fingers came up to brush his own cheek he could feel the imprint the carpet had left on it. Maybe he had been out for a while. Damn. Connie was right about how much he could or couldn’t care for himself. Why did she have to be right? 

Still, it was nice to have someone as strong and attractive as Alex bundling him up into his bed, even tucking the blankets in around his chin. If only Alex would be so kind as to lean down and press those lovely, pale lips against his forehead. Wouldn’t that be lovely? 

“If you move from this place, I will pick you back up and carry you back in here. Okay, not if you need the bathroom, but until my replacement is here to take care of you, you’re my responsibility. Don’t make Connie mad at me. I haven’t been working out with my sister lately, so Connie could kick my butt if I Ieave you unattended.”

“Hungry,” David groaned, not caring too much about Alex mumbling at him. 

“Yeah, yeah, I can do something about that. What do you want to eat?” 

“Bacon and pancakes.”

“Yogurt and fruit it is,” Alex chuckled. “And orange juice. You could use the calories and sugars. My Dad always said it was the best thing for getting the body healthy again.”

The comment didn’t quite make him happy, but David nodded in agreement anyway. “Can I have something warm too?”

“Don’t worry, there will be soup later,” Alex assured him. The man patted David’s head lightly, the gesture turning into fingers brushing hairs out of the area of his eyes. It was a touch that David couldn’t help but follow after when it was being taken away. “Damn, you’re just like a loving kitten sometimes, did you know that?”

No, but the comparison was one that pleased him in his current state. If only he had the breath to purr. 

“Keep me company?”

Alex nodded his agreement as he went back to the door of the bedroom. “At least until your boyfriend gets here.”

Shaun. The name made David shrink down into his blankets. Stupid sick mind making him yearn toward Alex when he was in a relationship. Luckily no one would probably hold the addled behaviors of a sick person against them. Still, David resolved to try and remember to keep his distance. 

“Shaun’s coming?” David asked when he could get his throat to work, which was just before Alex had closed the bedroom door. And, of course, it made Alex open it again and presented him with the fond expression on that lovely face, but one underlined with a touch of annoyance. Why would that be? Jealousy? Or just irritation that Alex had to be the one dedicating a day to a sick person rather than letting a boyfriend or close friend like Connie do it? 

“Yeah, when he’s free… Saw him when I was at the cafe. Apparently someone out of his past showed up and she sort of has both Shaun and that Daniel guy very distracted this morning. I think Connie told him about you, but until he gets here, I’m the prime nurse. Sorry if that’s disappointing.”

In some ways it was. The idea that someone could just show up and make Shaun forget about him was frustrating and a bit more than merely upsetting. David could even feel himself pouting over the whole thing. Then again they’d been dating for barely any time at all. Could he really expect Shaun to drop everything to take care of him when there was someone else important to him around, when he had his own business to run?

Yes, a little traitor part of his mind said. Because Alex had done that, hadn’t he? Maybe not dropped everything, he’d brought his work along. And maybe he hadn’t done it just because David was sick if Connie was actually threatening him. None of that changed the fact that Alex was actually here, actually standing by and helping him when he was sick. Shaun, on the other hand, wasn’t. 

Be fair to him, another part of his mind suggested. When it came right down to it he knew the differences between the two men, didn’t he? There were clearly more things in Alex that screamed he was a nurturer than there were in Shaun. Shaun was excitement and energy and laughter. Alex was a strong shoulder to lean against, the friend who would mother you if you were about to do something really stupid. The only person that might have been better than Alex right now would have been Connie, who was more than used to taking care of David when he was out of sorts. Or his mom. 

Moms were good like that. 

“Consider sleeping,” Alex suggested as he moved to close the door again. 

“Wait,” David said, speaking up before he really thought about what he was going to say. Which was, of course, troublesome. Now here he was with Alex standing in his bedroom door, looking tall and handsome and strong and worried about him. How wonderful was that? Problem was that he wasn’t quite sure what he wanted to say. What he could say. What he should say. 

“Keep the door open,” he decided at last. “I like… hearing people around me when I’m not feeling well. My mom would put me on the couch in the living room so she could watch over me, or did when she could spare the space.”

“Maybe later we’ll move you out there then,” Alex assured him. “But first we want to get food and liquids in you. Then you’re getting your temperature taken, because you felt beyond hot when I touched your forehead.”

Touched his forehead? Yes, David could remember it now. Cool fingers stroking hair out of the way. But why such a tender touch to take a brief temperature? No point in questioning, he supposed. No way his brain was going to get to the bottom of anything more complex than a glass of water. If one could say that brains got to the bottom of water glasses at least. 

“Okay,” David agreed, pushing the rest of the thoughts aside. “I’m gonna just… close my eyes until you get back. Do you think that will be okay?”

“Of course,” Alex smiled, and it was warm and nice and David liked that smile. “Yeah. I think that would be a good plan, David. You need as much rest as you can get.”

“I need something to hug,” David mumbled. Before he could roll to reach for another pillow, something was landing on the bed next to him with a light whump. David frowned before he investigated, and what he found was that the thick winter coat Alex had been wearing, no doubt from being outside, had been tossed to him. 

“Not a stuffed animal, but maybe it will help.”

Maybe it would. With that Alex walked away. And David, god helped him, buried his nose in the coat, wrapping it up in his arms. It was amazing at soothing him into sleep.

* * * * * *

Caring for a sick person was like running a series of sprints from Alex’s experience. Over the years he’d helped his sister through more than her fair share of colds, flus and other failings of health. The secret was that they spent a lot of time asleep if they knew what was good for them, and mostly he only had to act when they were awake, or just before and just after. When he’d gotten to David’s apartment that had been the plan, of course. Focus on his work and get through that, taking breaks to care for his friend. Make sure David ate, that he got doses of the horrible medication that was meant to deal with the symptoms like the coughing that manifested somewhere around noon. There was the need to make another meal for his lunch and sit with David through the whole thing, and they never did manage to get the man to the living room to lay down on his couch. Each time David tried to win his legs it failed, almost miserably. 

It was cute, really, the way that David really needed him. Sparked things in Alex that he had almost forgotten about. Protecting people was just in his nature, and something his sister hadn’t needed since they were about ten. Alexa fought when he tried to take care of her and she was sick, but David just needed him. Crooned when a cool towel was used to mop his brow, whine and squirmed when there was medication given to him. Smiled weakly over the small meals that Alex made and coaxed him through, and even seemed to appreciate the way Alex spoke around him, talking out problems in his work, as he tidied up around David. 

This was almost like being needed by someone he really wanted to be wanted by. 

None of that meant he wasn’t annoyed that it was coming up on five in the evening. As sweet and needy as David was, Alex had plans for tonight that didn’t involve reviewing a picture of the professor he’d worked for during the last month. That, maybe, was why he was really annoyed. This wasn’t the art he wanted, this was what he had to do, not the images he had made for himself. Sometimes it was harder to motivate himself when he had things that were expected of him. 

Frustrated Alex pushed the mouse away from him. He could move this back to his own apartment before he left, there was no way he was wearing what he had one now out for his evening with Sarge, he liked the sweater too much. Heading out right now to move things felt… inappropriate somehow, though. What if David needed him? 

“You’re at his beck and call and he doesn’t even want you,” Alex reminded himself, the words under his breath. Sarge was right, he did need to give himself a break. He needed to get away from David some, stop letting himself get so wrapped up in the man and their friendship until he was really ready to accept the limitation that David put upon them. Strengthen his mind until it could get his heart to follow his lead. 

That didn’t mean he wasn’t pissed to see Shaun letting David down, especially not over a red-haired woman that there was clear romantic tension with. 

“His relationship is not your business,” Alex chided himself. Clearly he wasn’t distracted enough in here if he wasn’t going to be working. With that in mind Alex pushed to his feet at last and headed off into the kitchen. It was getting to be about time where he should look into getting David fed again. Besides, he always felt more comfortable in the houses of strangers if he was in the kitchen. He had to wonder what that said about him. 

“And if I get into that, I’m going to be talking to myself even more than before,” Alex sighed. And the fact that he said it out loud definitely made his point for him, didn’t it? 

The thought made him chuckle and Alex was more than glad to move to the sink and roll up his sleeves. There weren’t too many dishes generated by the repeated feeding of soup and other nutrient rich meals in small portions, but given all day and no cleaning, Alex was pleased to see it. Dishes gave him something to do and left him with little need to think. Sadly they only lasted a few minutes until everything was drying in the rack and he was slowly heating a new dose of soup on the stove. 

Boredom and over thought was spared when Alex heard his phone go off. A stupid little ditty that was something like a cross between mariachi music and polka all at once. There was no particular reason he had chosen it, but it just felt right. Plus the very meaning that came with that sound did a lot to cheer him on its own. 

“Hey, you’re supposed to be working,” he observed after he had fished the phone from his pocket to answer. 

“It’s called a break, Blondie. Ever hear of one?” 

The snark in Sarge’s voice was thick, and Alex had to appreciate it. Beyond his sister he didn’t know anyone who could put so much of it into so little words. Well, perhaps that Daniel guy David was friends with. They had spoken only briefly at the Halloween party and it had been abundantly clear to him in the two sentences that they had exchanged that the man was probably running on pure sass due to having to deal with Shaun frequently. 

“No, never,” Alex returned easily, twisting to lean against the counter. He did make certain that his gaze stayed on the soup so it wouldn’t boil over. Or burn. Or anything else just because his attention was caught up elsewhere. Even like this he had to be so dreadfully responsible didn’t he? “Tell me about this thing called a break.”

“It’s when I break Grif’s head for annoying me. Or when I take a break from breaking Grif’s head for annoying me.”

Which Alex was coming to understand from the way the man would talk about it sometimes when they were chatting on the phone. Maybe sometime he would even be able to get to the bottom of just what it was about the laid back barista that drove Sarge up multiple walls at the same time. 

“Well, if you’re sharing some of this, break time was it, with me then I am very honored sir. I just wish I was doing it in person.”

That earned him a huff. Clearly Sarge had an idea of what he wanted to say about that. If Alex stayed silent the man was definitely going to talk. So he carefully held the phone between his shoulder and ear, braced his hands against the counter, and hefted himself up to sit on the edge. Once he was up there he was content to let his feet swing in the air, the subdued noise of his heels hitting the cabinet door below him oddly comforting. 

“Then you should be here. Or should have been here during any of my shift. What made you defect to Blue Shift?” 

Defect. Sarge really thought about everything in a… novel sort of way. 

“Can’t you all just get along and be a little bit purple?”

“Just because your apartment is garishly painted with your compliance with Blue Shift ideals doesn’t mean you’re blue to the core. You’re redeemable.”

Alex chuckled at the statement, shaking his head. Of course he didn’t make any sense, but it was quite amusing to just sit back and listen to it. 

“I’m not abandoning you. Just dealing with the ongoing insomnia and all of that. I figure another few days and I’ll be back to my normal night loving self and you won’t have to worry about me starting to think that Tucker has a better sense of humor than you do.”

“He doesn’t,” Sarge noted quickly. “But he does seem to be a better dancer.”

That… was a story that Alex wanted to get to the bottom of someday, but not today. There were other things to focus on, like how the soup was starting to seriously bubble. Alex leaned forward to turn the heat down a bit. Maybe he wasn’t as ready to wake David for a meal as he had thought he would be. 

“I think I might be about ten or so minutes late meeting up with you for tonight, can you forgive me?” Alex couldn’t keep the concern from his voice. There was every reason that the other man might be upset at him for it all. He would know why David wasn’t at work, he could easily figure why David’s neighbor who he recognized as having feelings for David, would be away today. Given their own arrangements it could be read as letting Sarge down. 

“You’re a carer,” Sarge answered, and Alex thought he heard a shrug. Could you hear a shrug? “It’s okay. Besides, I figure it has something to do with how Scars McGee is still here, looking like he doesn’t know if he’s coming or going regarding the redhead that his brainiac friend is mooning over…”

“The way I read the situation, in my limited understanding, is that she’s an ex of his.”

“Ah, complications,” Sarge observed. “Shame. Seems like a pretty good lady to me. She practically had Leonard seething.”

That Alex hadn’t seen, and he wasn’t certain he wanted to get involved enough to know. Instead he brought it right back around to his point. “So it’s…”

“Fine,” Sarge insisted. “But make it no more than half an hour if you can avoid it. I’ll see what I can do on my end about Shaun lingering here. I’d be a bad date if I couldn’t deal with some of the problems when they’re looking me in the face, right?”

“Worst comes to worst, Connie will no doubt take off a bit early to come and relieve me. If I can, I’d rather she do that than just leave David here alone.”

“That worried about how sick he is?” 

“That worried over how scary Connie is when she doesn’t get her way.”

There was silence from the other end of the line for a solid minute, well past the point where Alex checked his phone to make sure the call was still connected. He was about to ask if Sarge was still there when he heard a brief laugh. 

“You’re right to be scared. That little lady, I’m sure she’s killed a man once just to see him die.”

“That’s a song,” Alex reminded Sarge, but truth be told he wasn’t sure he could say she wouldn’t. “But she is sort of scary.”

“For someone that tiny? Damn right. I have seen her when she’s cutting her cakes into small slices. You don’t get that good with a knife out of nowhere. Pretty sure she wants to be scary, and she knows she can be.”

Alex had to agree, and for a moment he thought about David. About the way he handled a knife in the kitchen, the scar across his shoulder, and he shuddered. 

“I think I’d rather talk plans of attack for tonight. For while your break lasts. Is that okay?”

“A man after my own heart. Okay, so here’s how I see it playing out…”

* * * * * *

The door opens within moments of Shaun’s first knock, like someone was waiting for him to show. Would make sense, really, the way Sarge had chewed him out over the whole thing. Sitting around in a cafe while his boyfriend was sick in bed, fucking up Sarge’s day because Sarge had to come into work early? The fuss the older man had made stopped Charlotte in her tracks as she was speaking about a woman she had met recently in the local gardens. Daniel had been pleased to discover there was a rose garden in town, something neither of them had known, and Shaun had just been happy that she was sitting next to Danny and not himself. Without the winter coat on, with her so close, he could smell her perfume. Why did she even bother to wear perfume if she didn’t mean to draw attention to herself. 

Curse her being so close. 

The door whipped open and there was the last person Shaun was really ready to see, except for Charlotte. Alex stood there, taller than him by a comfortable margin, looking composed and cool. How dare he be composed and cool? What did this guy think he was about, being in his boyfriend’s apartment. 

They’re friends, Shaun reminded himself as he looked at the blond. 

“Hi, uh…”

“There is another can of chicken noodle soup on the counter in the kitchen. He likes it when you heat it up to the point where things bubble, and then let it cool for two minutes. There are two juices in the fridge. He can have orange juice at any time, but don’t give him apple after about eight or he won’t fall asleep as easily. Change the wet towel every hour, but wring it out as good as you can. And give him another dose of the medicine from the bottle beside the bed in an hour and a half.”

With that Alex was pushing past Shaun and heading down the hall toward his own apartment, as if Shaun wasn’t even there anymore. It left Shaun staring after him in annoyance. But there wasn’t time for that. Shaun just headed into the apartment, closing the door behind him. Part of him wanted to slam the damn thing, but instead he closed it softly, not wanting to wake David if by some chance the man was still asleep. Bad enough that he was getting here so late thanks to her. It would be worse if he upset what rest the man was getting. 

A quick check of the kitchen found that everything Alex had said stood true, there was soup ready just in case David was hungry, there was juices in the fridge, and he was almost thankful that the other man had been there. Shaun knew he wasn’t well equipped for taking care of other people when they were sick. Over the years he had counted himself lucky to find that Daniel was rarely ill, and when he was, he tended to do most of what needed to happen to take care of himself. Shaun mostly just followed instructions. 

He left all of that behind, more concerned to actually see his boyfriend than anything else. The bedroom door was opened just a crack, and Shaun was careful to slip off his shoes before continuing forward. Shaun was more than capable of padding quietly through any space, if he was properly equipped, which meant barefoot. Plus he’d learned enough of David’s apartment to know not to put his foot at a spot two feet in front of the left edge of the door, where the carpet had been placed over something that scratched just a little bit. Soon enough he was at the bedside of his boyfriend, lowering himself quietly so he could sit on the edge. David looked… quiet. Worn out. Like he couldn’t make it through things on his own. 

Poor guy. 

Shaun reached out, gently reaching for the washcloth on his forehead, more than ready to change it out for something fresh and cool, just like Alex had instructed him. The touch, though, roused David. Those beautiful eyes fluttered open and the way David went from confused to beaming at him was magical. Like he mattered. Somehow today he’d forgotten what that felt like. Shaun smiled right back at leaned forward, pressing his lips against David’s forehead. 

“Hey dear,” Shaun greeted softly. “Sorry I’m late. Things got… complicated.”

“You’re here now,” David kept smiling. “It’s okay. Because you’re here now.”

Shaun chuckled, doubting that seriously. Just being somewhere didn’t make things magically better. But there was David, starting to sit up and reach for him. Something told him that letting David expend too much energy to the end of getting to his side was wrong. So instead Shaun moved further onto the bed to sit by his boyfriend, pulling David close so the man could lean against him. 

“Tell me about it?” David asked, the words half-mumbled into Shaun’s chest. He smelled of sweat and fever, and Shaun didn’t care. That was the amazing thing. Charlotte had been a heady perfume out of his past, a longing that was immediately soothed by being by David, even if the man wasn’t at his best. Charlotte in her prime was nowhere near as good as David when his body was a furnace from the fever, when he had trouble keeping his head up. 

“My ex-girlfriend is in town,” Shaun admitted after a moment of internal debate. How much was appropriate to talk about? How much wasn’t? “Once I thought I wanted to marry her. I really did. Had a ring and everything. Maybe kids, and I don’t much like kids, but she wanted them and… She broke my heart.”

“I know what you mean,” David whispered, the words barely audible at all. But the tension in his shoulders said enough. Someone in David’s past. Perhaps the one that made him run away from Shaun after their first night? Perhaps. But if David didn’t want to talk about it, Shaun wasn’t going to push right now. 

“Well, she just waltzed right up behind Daniel and I on our way for morning coffee. Ambush of the past. It’s like she didn’t understand how much her very presence hurt. But maybe she never cared like I cared. So I can forgive her. Sort of.”

“Be better than her,” David suggested. “Be better because you’re worth being better.”

“Maybe I want to be better just for you,” Shaun countered, a teasing edge to his voice, but he knew the unspoken praise was worth it too. David was like a flower. He did his best when he was reassured of his value. So Shaun even reached up to toy with his boyfriend’s hair. He loved that so much. 

“Charmer,” David accused. 

“Guilty,” Shaun was happy to agree. 

“Do you still want her?” David asked, and Shaun would have jerked away if the other man didn’t have so much of his weight against Shaun. 

“What? Char?”

The answer was very much yes, and completely no. He might jump when she said, but he’d never ask how high. He’d always go his highest. But… for David he thought maybe he might exceed what he thought his limitations were. 

“Yeah, who else would I be talking about, Alex?”

Snowy, pale hands pressing David’s sunny skin against these very sheets. Lips brushing over skin Shaun took pleasure in exploring all on his own. And god the sight of it had been amazing. Stupid dreams. 

“I guess not,” Shaun said. “Even if he is a bit hot.”

There was a light and playful shove at that, but not all that much of one. Probably because he was sick. Maybe because what Shaun saw when he watched David watching Alex at the Halloween party wasn’t exactly… wrong. Talk about the weirdest sort of romantic complication there ever was. Both of them finding Alex attractive and completely fuckable. Chances were, though, that David had never fantasized about him. David was too good and pure for that. And he definitely never would have thought about Alex screwing Shaun. There were differences between them, and David was too good to have to deal with what Shaun was like. 

“Stupid,” David sighed. “You know I know that. Be both know I know that. Honestly, provided you don’t act on things, who am I to judge about a little creative thinking? Put your energies toward me, but let your mind do what your mind needs.”

This man was amazing. How could he not love David? How could Charlotte even be the ghost of a whisper in his mind when this pure, sweet person existed. 

“What do you think about getting a bit of food in you?” Shaun asked, squeezing his boyfriend lightly. “We’ll set you up in the living room and I’ll make a fool of myself being a nurse. From the briefing Alex gave me he seemed a bit more… qualified for this, but I’m definitely going to try for you.”

“I can ask nothing more,” David chuckled. 

“You can always ask for competence. But I promise that I’m going to try for you, try really hard, to learn all this health stuff,” Shaun promised firmly. “And that starts with getting you somewhere a bit more lit up so we can cuddle and watch really terrible cartoons like I used to do when I was a kid. Or anything else. You get control of the remote.”

“Please promise none of your horrible romance movies,” David pleaded. “I’m already miserable.”

“Asshole,” Shaun laughed before pulling off of the bed. “I’m going to make you suffer for that someday. But for now, let me carry you to the living room. I’ll get you a glass of juice, set you up with the remote and some blankets, and I’ll shout really embarrassing stories about how I tried to romance one Charlotte Church and managed to make myself look like a buffoon while I make your dinner. Sound good?”

David only had to nod briefly before Shaun was smiling and moving to scoop the smaller man up. “Sounds good.”

Navigating the man through the doorway was a bit of a pain, especially after Shaun worked to scoop up the blankets with him, but once it was done and David was situated on the couch, Shaun felt rather proud of himself. He went back to fetch pillows twice, frowning briefly at the coat that had gotten tangled up with them for some reason. Too big to be David’s to the best of his knowledge, especially as he hadn’t seen it before, but in the end he tossed it onto a nearby chair, figuring David might just be a bit more of a clothes horse than Shaun had given him credit for. Once David was fully nested on the couch, and a small, plush kitten fetched down from a bookshelf that David had been pouting toward, Shaun made his way toward the kitchen. 

“How did you meet Charlotte?” David asked, his voice cracking when he raised it to be heard by Shaun all the way in the kitchen. 

Now there was a story for the ages. 

“Would you believe me if I told you I was a huntsman hired by her evil stepmother to kill her and put her heart into a box, so that the stepmother might be the fairest in all the lands?”

“That is Snow White. Don’t make me try and get up to hunt you down. I’ll fall over and we’ll all feel bad.”

True enough. Shaun reached quickly into the fridge to fetch out the juice that Alex said would be inside. Not even a carton, but rather a pitcher. Who put juice into pitchers? Shaun shook the question out of his mind and reached for a glass in the cabinet. 

“Same way I meet a lot of people who aren’t Daniel. Really bad flirting. Went out to a club one night with a group of friends, just after I hit twenty-one. None of them are still friends I will say that, she got them in the pseudo-divorce and many moved on with their lives far away from here in the time after. Anyway, I was young, stupid, and had more and far worse pickup lines than I have now. Worse than Tucker.”

“No!” David gasped, and Shaun could see feigned horror as he returned to the living room, apple juice in hand. 

“Yeah,” Shaun assured him. “I made Tucker look smooth. But this one girl there, sitting at the bar with this weird little flowy half skirt and the reddest hair that you can find in a bottle of dye, actually laughed. It was the start of something epic. I was so shocked it worked that I almost fell over. Worse, I almost set myself on fire with the lighter I had been playing with.”

“Smooth indeed.”

His laughter was like a blessing, and Shaun wanted nothing more than to earn it. Yeah, maybe he was screwed here, just like he had been with her. But this time he knew it was going to turn out well.


End file.
